Forsaken
by Kindre Turnany
Summary: I expect something cataclysmic, something that could rip through everything I’ve ever loved and shatter me, heart, mind, and soul. :: The story of Uchiha Sasuke, the vampire.
1. Iki o Hikitoru

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

I _really_ reworked this this time. Before I just got rid of the parts I hated, but I completely rewrote it now. I intend to get rid of chapter two, and incorporate the parts worth having into this, but for now, I thought I'd stop here. Especially since I should be asleep already. The title is supposed to mean to die, or to withdraw one's breathing. At least that's what my book of idioms says. :)

Please let me know what you think! This will change a huge part of the story (the this-is-all-a-flashback part). I intend to someday make each chapter a lot longer too, but that is for another day.

**CHAPTER ONE: Iki o Hikitoru**

_I expect something cataclysmic, something that could rip through everything I've ever loved and shatter me, heart, mind, and soul. I know it's coming so I wait, ready. But it never arrives. I sit forever, tensed, stressed, anxious, waiting. Alone. Everyone has died, everyone has gone from me. Nothing remains._

_Thinking on it, I realize not even I remain. When I reach forward, nothing moves. When I look around, nothing sees. When I open my mouth and drink, nothing quenches my thirst. When I think about that too, I realize there was no thirst to quench._

_I feel nothing, see nothing, hear nothing, am nothing. The world has ended and left me behind. I expected something great, something apocalyptic when my world ended and when I died. Instead I didn't even notice its passing. It was nothing, as I am now. Nothing._

_I expect something cataclysmic. I can feel it coming. It's just around the corner. It's coming... it's coming._

_I expect something to destroy me. I will scream and thrash, holding on to my last breath. It's coming, you see. I can feel it: it's coming._

_I expect something amazing to come and show me the world's end. Because if it isn't great, and if it's so small I miss it, was anything worth it? Was I worth it? Don't worry, it's coming. It's coming._

_I expect something, anything. It must be coming, please..._

_It never does._

I woke in a bed I'd never known before, suddenly thankful it was only a dream. Only a dream, but that wasn't the same as meaningless. White sheets, stained now by my sweat, clung to me as I sat, and a comforter laid where I had knocked it to the floor in my sleep. My sweat hung sharply in the air, stinging my nose. The room I woke in was small. It had two doors, one of which was slightly open, but not enough for me to peek out. A wooden chair rested beside the bed, turned at an angle that suggested someone had risen and left it there. A bookshelf stood against the nearest wall, sort of near the chair. On the far side of the room, was a chest or drawers built of lighter wood than the shelf and chair. One of the drawers wasn't closed right. There was a poster of a beautiful woman on the wall by the open door.

My chest was bare and damp, and a bandage covered the left side of my neck, slightly above the curse seal. I found I still had pants and begin to climb out of bed. My body was weak and exhausted; my mind moved sluggishly. We had a mission, I remembered: some thugs pretending to be vampires. Tsunade sent us as something of a practice mission because I had only recently returned. Or rather, Naruto had only recently dragged me back.

The village was small and comely, the kind you read about in storybooks where everyone is nice and everyone is happy. Even from a distance, when all we saw was the smoke rising from a chimney, I hated it. It was so calm. It was so peaceful. It was so perfect. A part of me understood why someone would want to harass it. Pain made this place more real, less a fairy tale. Or maybe, having a monster made it more so. But that made us fairy tale heroes, so I banished the thought.

Kakashi booked us a room at the inn rather than making us stay out in the snow. The innkeeper tried to infuse us with "Christmas cheer" and gave us all a warm mug of cocoa to sit with in front of the fire. Naruto claimed to be too old, but took it anyway. Sakura only smiled that way girls do when they think something is sweet and curled up with a warm blanket. I burned my mouth with the first swallow.

Our team leader crashed back into the inn from his patrol, followed by the howling wind. "They're here." Was all he said before rushing back into the storm. We dropped our mugs and followed.

The wind and snow would make locating our targets difficult, but they would provide us cover as well. I needn't have worried. The thugs rushed us almost immediately. They all wore black, and their eyes gleamed red through the storm. Somehow, they could hide their chakra, but most of them were weak enough to take out without trouble. Their leader though, was far more powerful. The difference between them was laughable, but he was stronger than us as well.

They had numbers, and separated Sakura and Kakashi from us. The leader sniffed at Naruto as they fought, and looked surprised. I didn't see what happened next because one of his underlings, a powerful woman with a violet scarf around her face, attacked me from behind. By the time I knocked her aside and turned back, Naruto was on the ground.

Without a thought, I rushed to him, just as I had in the land of mist. I tackled the "vampire," forcing him away from Naruto. For a moment, as we flew through the air, I saw his eyes: red, bloodthirsty eyes. He twisted his head to my neck and bit deep into the soft flesh. As my blood leaked out, passing through his hungry lips, the world became blurred and then blacked out altogether. I didn't know what happened next.

A slight creak as the door opened returned me to the present. Glancing up, I found Sakura staring at me, dumbstruck. Her green eyes gaped wide, and almost glazed over. I smelled something dark that almost tickled and realized it was fear, and it was hers. Some deep part of me wanted to smile, but instead I stood.

"Sakura, what..." But she screamed and ran, the terror finally bursting through her.

That's when I realized something was wrong.

Naruto ran full-speed into the room almost as soon as Sakura left. I saw his blue eyes widen, and realized he hadn't believed her. "Sasuke..." My name seemed to break from him unwillingly, like saying it would suddenly reveal me lying silently, motionlessly on the bed. I realized then, with Naruto staring at me like a ghost, that I should have died.

I realized I was panting as rapidly as he. I could hear—even feel—his heart racing, but I noticed suddenly that mine wasn't. My heart was still. Naruto was right: I was dead.

Tsunade rushed past the dazed Naruto, dragging Sakura along. She grabbed my wrist before I could move away, checking for a pulse. I didn't need a touch to feel hers. She began pulling out medical instruments from a bag she had Sakura hold for her. Then she and Sakura together used them to poke and prod me rather awkwardly. At some point, they either realized it wasn't worth their time or they had to run blood work. I wasn't paying attention, but either way, they left.

Kakashi and Naruto remained, both watching me apprehensively. The jounin sat in the chair with a forgotten book in his lap. He tried occasionally to read it, but it couldn't seem to hold his attention. Naruto just stood in the middle of the room, staring openly. His orange jumpsuit was wrinkled liked he'd slept in it, and his hair was messed. Dark bags under his eyes said whatever sleep he'd gotten had been far from enough. They said nothing. I said nothing. We all just watched each other. Their hearts beat loudly, still too fast, and their fear leaked out and into my nostrils.

"So," I said, unable to wait any longer. "I hear I died."


	2. Proof

Here's the edited chapter two! That means it's better than before, not that it was bad originally, just not as good as it is now.

Kisei: As I promised, the second chapter! See, told you I'd do it

Sasuke: …You like me dead, don't you?

Kisei: no, I just want it to be about my favorite character::huggles::

Kakashi: Kisei does not own Naruto.

Kisei: NO FAIR! **–**sob**-**

Sasuke: Well…I don't mind.

Naruto: But Kishimoto Masashi-sensei made you go evil!

Sasuke: But not dead.

Kisei: He kinda did

Sasuke: Shut up, baka

Kisei: -sob-

**CHAPTER TWO: Proof**

For whatever reason—I suspect fear—not a single one of them accepted that I was a vampire. They tried every way they could find to prove I was still as human as they. For half an hour they took turns arguing at me; at because I rarely responded. Finally, Tsunade grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me to the back door of whoever's house I woke in. Sakura shied away as we passed; I smirked.

The sun hurt my skin and eyes, but I didn't burst into flames. Only Naruto noticed, or admitted to noticing, that I flinched.

Jason looked triumphant. "See, you're not a vampire." He almost smirked at me.

Shifting uncomfortably, I shaded my eyes from the harsh light. "Can we go inside now?"

Jason fumed at being ignored, but everyone else simply looked relieved. Kakashi smiled and led me in. Sakura shrieked. The others came running and stopped dead when they arrived. I turned around to find a mirror behind me.

I had no reflection.

Kakashi tried scrubbing the mirror, but when he saw himself clearly and still couldn't find me, he gave up. With her eyes wide, Tsunade pulled a small vial from her pocket and began to open it. Someone, I think Sakura, asked her what it was.

"Holy water." At everyone's confused looks she continued, "It's supposed to hurt vampires." She went on again when no one looked away. "I heard it's supposed to be good for your skin." The others nodded as though that explained everything—though I'd never heard anything like that—and she held out the water to me. I'd expected her to simply throw it at me.

Slowly, I held out my left hand, wondering if the water would hurt me. She gently tipped the vial, letting the water spill out onto my hand. Searing pain flashed through my hand where the water touched it, and my skin burned, letting off a thread of smoke. I wrenched my hand back, hissing.

Sakura, Jason, and Tsunade flinched; Naruto growled menacingly; and Kakashi examined my hand. I glared back at Naruto. Jason readied his seemingly ever-present needle, but he couldn't seem to decide who needed it more: Naruto or me.

I'm fairly certain everyone felt as relieved as I when Tsunade took the thing from him. "Go home Jason." Tsunade spoke softly. I doubt anyone had expected a trained medic like Jason to become so jumpy. I know _I_ expected more from him.

Once he left, Tsunade and set me down on the large brown couch in the sitting room to perform a series of medical tests on me with Sakura as her assistant. Neither seemed thrilled with the results. I had no pulse. I _was_ breathing, but holding my breath long enough proved that I didn't actually need to. My body temperature matched that of…well, the deceased. She took a few blood samples that she could stare intently at and test later. The two of them tried everything they could to "heal" me and even left me with Naruto so they could go do medical whatevers to a sample of my blood.

He spoke very little. Instead the loud ninja just stared at me accusingly. I stared back, almost smiling, but in a mean way. I tilted my head when he looked down at his hands. "You…you idiot!"

"What are you calling me an idiot for, usuratonkachi?" I used the tone he was accustomed to hearing in my voice. I hadn't even known I still could.

"You let that thing bite you, WHAT ELSE?" He stood in front of me, so close I could smell miso ramen on his breath.

"To save you." I spoke more quietly that time, looking down at my own hands.

"You're not supposed to save me, Sasuke." He sat back down and mumbled something about owing him ramen.

"And you're not supposed to care, Naruto."

Kakashi interrupted our silence and let us know he'd been listening. "Well, I guess you're a couple of disobedient little brats then, aren't you?" I could tell he was smiling without even looking.

"I'm not a brat! I'm a great ninja and someday I'll be Hokage!" Why, oh why did Naruto always feel that had to be _yelled_?

"Stop standing on the couch, usuratonkachi." I spoke again in the voice he remembered.

"Oh…uh…yea…RAMEN!" He ran off, but I wasn't sure if I embarrassed him or he actually wanted ramen. It could have been both.

I saw Kakashi smile through his mask at how Naruto retained his childlike innocence at sixteen. "We thought you might need something to eat… or drink in your case." Kakashi said, handing over a silver thermos that smelled of…pigs.

I wrinkled my nose when I opened it. "It smells…bad."

"Plug your nose." I'd have bet my soul that he was laughing at me, if I still had one.

I held my nose shut and gulped down the thick liquid as quickly as I could, trying to keep it off my tongue as much as possible. It helped while I drank, but the aftertaste made me want to puke. I expected pig's blood to taste more like pork, or bacon, or some sort of pig product.

Kakashi grinned. "That wasn't so bad, now was it?"

"It was." I rubbed my tongue along the roof of my mouth, trying desperately to rid it of the foul taste.

"One more thing."

"What?"

Kakashi hesitated. "Well… from what we understand you've lost, erm…well you're a vampire and so… I mean… you died… and…"

"I have no soul?"

"That's what we're thinking, yea."

"Is there a way to check?"

"Tsunade-sama and Hinata-chan are checking up on that now. They somehow got Shikamaru to help them too… Is that stuff really _that_ bad?" He motioned as I began to actually rub my tongue with my hands in order to get rid of the taste.

"I think it's just the aftertaste…" I grimaced, giving up my fruitless efforts.

"Aren't vampires supposed to like blood?"

"I think just human blood…" Kakashi took a step back. "Sorry," I added, "That's not how I meant it."

"I know. It just caught me by surprise is all." He scratched at the back of his neck. "I'm supposed to keep you here tonight so you don't run off and kill people or anything."

"Were you supposed to tell me that?"

"No." He smiled. "But I didn't think lying to you would do any good."

"Probably not."

"Just don't… bite me, okay?"

"I won't, just so long as you don't try to starve me."

"You sound like a pet I have to feed."

"Pets and prisoners are very different, sensei."

It happened four years ago and somehow I slept the same way I did tonight, even down to the nightmare I had before waking. I dreamt it at the same time too… I always do.

END CHAPTER

Kisei: I'm going with the five review thing again

Sasuke: You. Are. Evil.

Kisei: And hopefully I can update as quickly as I did this time!

Naruto: I dunno… I think I kinda like you being dead…

Sasuke: Undead

Naruto: …?

Sasuke: That means I can kill you in your sleep.

Naruto: O.O RAMEN TIME! –runs off-

Shikamaru: You people are such a bother…


	3. Blood

Edited Chapter Three. I hope you enjoy

Kisei: I LOVE REVIEWS!!!!!!!!

Sasuke: …and killing me

Naruto: -snicker-

Sasuke: -glare-

Shikamaru: Kisei does not own Naruto

Kisei: But I can reply to reviews!!!!! -grin-

Naruke- are you always accompanied by Shikamaru? I mean erm…I really do mean to email you….what with my lack of spelling and grammar skills and your offering to help…and…erm…this is harder than I thought…I'm glad you like my fic! –peace-

AoiSea- unless there are two people with your name, you were the first person to ever make two reviews to something I wrote(of your own free will)!!!!!!! And erm…. . ; I know where Sasuke is, really! I'm just erm…waiting to reaveal it, yea! That's it!

Sasuke: Trust me, she has no idea whatsoever.

Shikamaru: She really should have planned this out more

Kisei: ;-;

Pesha: that's right, no more jutsus…sad, innit?

Iceheart19: Erm…Neji's a doctor cuz I've read fics before where he is and it seemed like a decent idea…same with Hinata. I know he's OOC, but that's kinda deliberate . ; Some people can't deal with the existence of vampires, and I guess I designated poor Neji-kun as one of those people. Sry if you don't like it

Kisei: and while I'm at it I might as well apologize to all Neji and Sakura fans…they're not too…cool? In this fic…at all

Sakura: And you're gonna pay for that!

Inner Sakura: Lemme at Her! –raises fists-

Kisei: OO I haven't decided if there will be any pairings or not, but if there are I'll be sure to warn people in this little top thingy, just so they can't yell if they dun like it –shifty eyes-

All Other Rviewers: -huggles- yay! Reviewers! Ty!!!!!!!

Kisei: And heeerrrrrreeeee's the fic!

CHAPTER THREE: Blood

After finally returning to sleep, I awoke again to the putrid stench of yet another thermos full of pig's blood. My favorite. I grimaced and set it aside after only a few swallows. I couldn't bring myself to drink more even if they refused to feed me anything else. Tsunade ordered Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, Hinata, and I to site on Kakashi's couch so she could make a speech. I lounged impatiently while everyone else focused intently on either her or me.

"Well, after significantly too much research, we found that Sasuke has no soul! Don't worry though, he probably can't enter anyone's house without being invited—" She would have continued, but…

I don't believe Naruto knew how to keep his mouth shut. "Probably?"

"We haven't tested it yet."

"Oh."

"Anyway. Technically, he's dead. But we can all see that he moves around and such just fine. He can survive in sunlight, so I guess that one's not true. But he doesn't have a reflection, and holy water seems to sting a little."

"A little?" That shit stung a lot!

"More than a little then. I looked all night, but I can't find anything on reversing the process. I don't think it's possible. So there's nothing we can do but keep him supplied with animal's blood, so he keeps away from humans, and send him home. I'm sure we can find something for you to do around here." Naruto grinned, probably thinking of completely pointless things to suggest. "For now Naruto will be watching you and is to report to me whenever he can get someone else to keep an eye on you, Sasuke-kun."

"But Tsunade!!!!!!" Why didn't Naruto ever just SHUT-UP. "Why do I have to watch Sasuke? He's the one who got himself…vampired?"

"Idiot." Of course, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to insult him any more than he could avoid speaking.

"You two are so troublesome. Why don't you just…chill or something." Shikamaru wore his default annoyed expression.

Tsunade cleared her throat. "You're watching him, Naruto."

Naruto sighed, whined, and said he'd only do it if she bought him ramen, which she actually agreed to. He still alternated between stamping and moping the entire way home. He lived in a fairly small, single room apartment, so he ordered me to sleep on the couch. For a month we both lived relatively peacefully in his apartment. I took to sleeping in and staying up late; it freaked Naruto out a little at first but he eventually got used to it.

I slept more peacefully without the strange dreams of nothingness, but waking up to the smell of ramen every day bothered me almost as much as nightmares. It stunk. Tsunade only assigned Naruto small, unimportant missions that I could go along on. Technically, guarding me was his primary mission.

I drank my pig's blood at the table with Naruto as he ate his ramen. Tuesday. I became a vampire on a Tuesday, and that day was a Tuesday too. The blood didn't disgust me as it usually did. I by no means enjoyed it, I just… I didn't care. Like my mind was on something else. I heard a soft thumping sound. I looked around, but couldn't find its source anywhere. "Do you hear that?" I asked Naruto, still searching.

"Hear what?" He asked, giving me the 'either Sasuke's imagining things or using his super vampy hearing again' look. Until I started living with others again, I never would have though anyone could say so much with a glance. I learned girls especially seemed to speak volumes with a blink after moving in with Naruto.

"That… thumping sound." I glared at him. How could the moron not hear something so loud?

"I don't hear anything, Sasuke." He glared back, but it looked comical since he hadn't changed out of his pajamas yet. The stupid hat especially. I don't think even Itachi could look scary in that thing.

His neck.

"I think I should…go." I spoke hurriedly, standing a little too quickly.

"Oh, no you don't!" Naruto leapt over the table to grab my arm.

The sound grew louder with Naruto closer to me. I'd already suspected where it came from, but now I knew. His heart. I heard the pulsing that sent blood through Naruto's veins. Through his body. To his neck, where I could so easily claim it for myself.

"Let. Me. Go. Naruto." I spoke forcefully, glaring at him with eyes I knew were red, but without the Sharingan.

"I can't let you go anywhere, stupid." Naruto looked so determined in his stupid hat. I couldn't let myself hurt him.

"You have to!"

"Why? What could be so important that it could justify my letting you out of my sight?" Naruto usually acted like a child, but he never let himself fail a mission if he had even the slightest chance.

"I…" His heart. "Just… just let me go." I squeezed my eyes shut.

"I can't. You know that."

"Sorry."

"For what?" I heard the confusion in his voice.

"For this… Naruto-kun."

I reached for his neck and sank my fangs into his soft flesh. Hot, red liquid seeped into my mouth. It didn't taste bad, not like the pig's blood. It tasted better than anything I'd ever had before, intoxicating like sake, warm like cocoa. I drank my first human blood hungrily, almost forgetting who I was, who Naruto was, how much blood he could afford to lose. I almost killed him.

I jerked back, my mouth filled with his blood. Frantically, I carried him to the couch, trying desperately not to look at him. Once I laid him down, I grabbed the phone Tsunade had given him and called the hospital. I told them only that he was hurt. He'd lost a lot of blood.

Tsunade wouldn't let me stay with him. She wouldn't let me stay with anyone. She shoved me in an empty cell, saying she'd take care of me once she knew Naruto would live. I sat down on the cold hard stone floor and waited.

I sat alone in the cell for three days, waiting. I didn't move, eat, drink, speak, or even sleep. I sat completely motionless for the three days it took the Hokage to return. The cold of the stone would have seeped into my flesh, if I hadn't been cold enough to first cool the stone. Either way, I sat there freezing, tired, hungry, and in a very bad mood.

"Sasuke." She spoke, her voice nearly as cold as mine. "You bit Naruto."

I nodded my head slightly.

"And you drank his blood."

I nodded.

"So you've proved that all vampires are blood thirsty monsters and that you can not be trusted with any human!" She nearly shrieked.

I only stared at her with eyes as black as night and cold as ice.

"What, you think I'm wrong?"

"I stopped."

"He's critical."

"But not dead."

"You think that makes it alright?"

"It makes him still alive. Though I'm still not." I heard her heart beating rapidly in her chest, and the silence from within my own.

"Don't make this a pity party, Vampire." She filled the last word with disgust and contempt.

"I'm not; there's no party here, Hokage-sama. Just a dead guy and an old hag. Not my ideal party guests?" I looked away from her.

"Don't even _try_ feeling sorry for yourself, Vampire. We let you live, hoping part of who you once were had survived. And that it was a large enough part to keep you from killing any of us. We were wrong, and now we'll take care of it the way we should have in the first place. Once we settle it with everyone." She mumbled the last sentence, but I heard it clearly anyway.

"And how would that be?"

She turned to storm out of the room, but first, in a voice hard and cold, she told me. "We'll finish killing you."

END CHAPTER

Kisei: Sooo, did you like it? Didya? Didya? Didya?

Shikamaru: … I was just a random background person, wasn't I?

Kisei: Yea –shifty-

Shikamaru: Kay, that's cool.

Kisei: -relieved sigh- Everyone, I'm sorry this one took me a while longer to post, but I went to Texas for a week, and when I got back, I was without internet –sobs uncontrollably-

Sasuke:… The End?

Kisei: NOPE! There's still more to go! -happily tortures meh fave chara-


	4. Thinking

I revised Chapter 4. And there was much rejoicing. Yaaay.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, anyone from Naruto, and I didn't create the idea of vampires either.

Kisei: I do however own the order I chose to put the words in!

Sasuke: Yeeaaahhh….

Kisei: Well… I do . ;

**CHAPTER FOUR: "Thinking"**

I never knew where Tsunade went, how long Naruto stayed in the hospital, or even if Tsunade was right to kill me. They left me in the cell for another week after she condemned me, and I suspected they meant to starve me to death. I spent my time sitting on the cold stone floor of my cell and contemplating my sorry little existence, and I knew I could never be what I had dedicated my life to.

I lost my chance to be a shinobi. I would never have another. My ninja days ended the night a vampire bit me in a small village with a cozy inn. I never liked it there; I couldn't stand it. Maybe a part of me realized I would die there.

Too much thinking hurt everyone, drove you mad with possibilities, memories, words, and pictures. That explained why Shikamaru lost himself in the clouds, why Naruto hollered and ran everywhere, why Chouji ate, why girls chased boys, why Kakashi read, why Itachi killed, why I lost myself completely in my training to gain enough power to kill my brother. Thinking was bad for you.

So I sat in the cold, dark cell Tsunade left me to rot in, and I thought.

I though about my father always favoring Itachi, never praising me, but I always wanted him to acknowledge me. I thought about Itachi's former kindness, but then he killed everyone I loved. I thought about becoming part of Team Seven, and when we finally became a true team. I thought about fighting Haku and Zabuza. I thought about the chuunin exam and Kabuto, Neji, Gaara, and Lee. I thought about Orochimaru and the curse seal he left on my neck. I thought about leaving Konoha, and Naruto finally bringing me back. I thought about Sakura's tears, Naruto's eyes, and Kakashi's hidden smile. I thought about the cold front I showed my friends. I thought about how weak I let myself become, how weak I always was. I thought about what I'd done to Naruto.

I bit him. I knew it took more to sire someone, though I wasn't sure how. Naruto would be fine. He just needed more blood to replace what I took, what I stole. I remembered the light leaking from his eyes as he passed out, the dullness that replaced it. He closed his eyes then.

I fought most of my life to avenge my loved ones, only to nearly kill my best friend, my only friend. I drank his blood. I knew I deserved to die, to avenge my friends for all the pain I'd caused them.

A light appeared in the doorway, blinding me long enough for someone to enter my cell while I blinked furiously. Once I regained my sight, I found Kakashi standing over me, frowning through his mask. I sensed his anger and… disappointment.

"I convinced them not to kill you." He spoke, his voice completely flat, but he showed no sign of regretting it.

"Why?" I tried to kill Naruto.

"I can't really explain," he furrowed his eye brows and squinted at me in the darkness. "But you're still… you."

I turned my eyes red, red without the sharingan, but with slit pupils. "Am I?"

His frown deepened. "You still think like Uchiha Sasuke; you question everything I say like Uchiha Sasuke; and even though you don't always sound like him, you definitely do when you're around Naruto, which makes you even more like Uchiha Sasuke."

I turned away, my eyes black again. "But I have fangs and a demon's eyes, sunlight hurts, holy water burns, and I have no reflection. I'm dead. Uchiha Sasuke died, so how can I still be him?"

He looked down at me, and for once I couldn't read his expression. "Because you want to be."

"But I can't." I stared at the dark stone floor. "Uchiha Sasuke wouldn't have killed Naruto. I remember I even tried once but couldn't."

He grabbed me by the front of my shirt and lifted me to my feet. "He's not dead. So come on, Not Uchiha Sasuke, we need to get home before someone sneaks in and steals my favorite book." He smiled through his mask, but it never reached his eye.

I rolled my eyes and followed Kakashi home.

He left me in the same room I'd stayed my first night as a vampire. Kakashi watched me most of the night rather than sleeping in his own room, across the hall and to the right. He presented me with a familiar silver thermos, and I thankfully found that the pig's blood left me completely sickened and disgusted.

I hadn't known that I could still be thankful.

I fell asleep completely exhausted, but I still managed to thrash, turn, sweat, and scream in my sleep. I nearly leapt out of bed when I woke, and I found Kakashi sitting in a comfortable chair beside me. I panted, he watched, we waited.

He finally spoke when I managed to lie back down. "Have you had that dream before?" His soft voice didn't disturb me as much as usual right then.

"Yeah…" I mumbled, drained.

"When?"

"The first night after…" I didn't know why I couldn't say it. I had before.

"It was the same one?"

"Yes."

"Have you dreamt it other times too?"

"No."

"What…" He hesitated and licked his lips. "What's it about."

"Nothing."

"It has to be about somethi—"

"No." I cut him off impatiently. "It's about nothing. I see, feel, touch, smell, and hear nothing. There's no light, no ground, no people, no animals, nothing. I don't even really exist in the dream, at least I don't think I do." I glared at him. "It's about nothing."

He looked thoughtful, and his visible eye gleamed in the moonlight. "That's an interesting thing to dream about."

"Interesting?" I laughed, dark and painful.

"What is it then?"

I closed my eyes and leaned back onto my pillow. "Terrifying."

Kakashi woke me by chucking a book at my head the next morning. Then he dragged me off to meet the Hokage. She looked down at me, displeased and arrogant. She obviously still wanted me dead.

She withheld all emotion from her voice when she spoke. "Uchiha Sasuke, you were charged with the attempted murder of Uzumaki Naruto. But since you are not a living citizen of Konoha, we are at this time unable to determine a suitable punishment."

I hadn't meant to kill anyone, but I kept my mouth shut.

Tsunade took a deep, calming breath before continuing. "Until such time as we determine a suitable punishment, you will live under guard with Hatake Kakashi, who has offered you both his home and your chance at life.

I smirked. Kakashi confused them by reminding them I was dead, and that they can't send a corpse to death row. I never realized before how devious my sensei could be.

**END CHAPTER**

Kisei: Sooo, ya like?

Shikamaru: If not… you can always watch the clouds

Ino: HEY! How come I'm not in this?!?!?!

Kisei: -hides- -hates Ino-

Sasuke: You know, if you stop reviewing… she'll leave me alone…

Kisei: -wacks Sasuke- I WANT REVIEWS! And I won't leave him alone, I'll just stop posting it. Five reviews for a new chapter! That's my rule. :)


	5. Training

This is basically a filler chapter that leads into more important things. Yeah, I know. That makes it lamer. I've edited it somewhat though, so it's less lame than before. Yay!

Sasuke: Kisei does NOT own Naruto or any characters form Naruto. –relieved sigh-

Kisei: Oh, come on! I wouldn't make you a vampire or kill you if I actually DID own it!

Shikamaru: Just don't sue her, unless you want some stuffed animals REALLY bad… and she's likely to just give you those.

Kakashi: Same with her old Pokemon cards…

Kisei: Will you guys just SHUT UP?!?!?!?!?!?!?! And I already gave away the Pokemon cards…

Shikamaru and Kakashi: No.

Sasuke: -smirk-

**CHAPTER FIVE: Training**

I expected Kakashi to lead me back to his small house, where I would do absolutely nothing all day long as I had most of the time at Naruto's. When we turned in the opposite direction, I sent him a questioning look. He ignored it. Instead he just smiled down at me through his mask.

I followed him silently, walking in the shadows whenever possible. When the silver haired jounin stopped in front of me, I looked around to find a familiar clearing. I remembered the first time I visited it, when Kakashi first tested us. I glared at his belt and hands to make sure he didn't have any bells.

"Wait here." Kakashi walked away without checking to see if I'd stay.

I coked my head but waited where he left me. I doubted he'd tell me what he was doing if I followed. Sitting down to wait, I watched him dart behind a tree. He scrambled into its higher branches and leapt into another tree. He continued this for a while, sometimes moving out of my line of sight.

Three shuriken flew out of the trees somewhere to my left. A test? I smirked and caught all three with my left hand. I returned them before he had a chance to move again.

I saw him dodge rather than catch them, but then I lost sight of him again.

"Very good." His voice came from right behind me.

I spun around ready for another attack, but he just stood there, barely smiling. "Why a test?" I asked, glaring at him.

"Tsunade-sama let slip that vampires are supposed to have some kind of superhuman strength; I wanted to see it. It's a shame you can't use chakra any more though."

"What?"

"To which?"

"All of it."

For a moment he looked confused, but then his eyes lit up with realization. "Oh yeah. You're the one person she _didn't_ have looking up vampires." He sweatdropped, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess not having a soul means you can't convert stamina into chakra, but as a vampire you actually have more stamina than you did as a human. You're also supposed to have incredible speed and strength, more than most humans any way. I'm sure you have heightened senses as well."

"Oh." Disappointment crept into my voice. Without chakra I couldn't use the Sharingan, one of my primary techniques. Or the Chidori. Or any attack I've ever relied on. At least it rendered the curse seal useless as well. I rubbed my neck where the black mark still showed.

"So." The jounin interrupted my thoughts. "Do you want to train and see what you can do?"

"Sure."

And he was gone.

I moved as quickly as I could—which may have been a bit faster than I remembered—into the trees to conceal myself. Once there I worked on detecting my former teacher. I couldn't see or hear him, and his had his chakra cloaked so I couldn't sense him. His scent though came from behind me and to the left. As soon as I knew where to find him, I found his heartbeat too. It sounded somehow excited.

I threw two kunai I'd hidden when thrown into my cell and moved quickly into another area. A kunai shot at my head form the trees, but I caught and returned it. Realizing I wouldn't be able to hide, I abandoned the trees and headed for the clearing. I found him more quickly this time and threw a rock at him. I was out of weapons.

He jumped down from a nearby tree and strolled over to me. "I don't get to read my book this time, do I?" He smiled again.

I shrugged. "Guess not."

He surprised me by charging head on as soon as I answered. Barely blocking a kick aimed for my head, I managed to toss him across the field. He spun in the air and landed gracefully. He even gave a short bow.

I rushed over and jammed my knee into his gut while he was bent over. He punched me and managed to stand again. "I had an idea." He said, holding up his hand to stop my next attack. "Mind if I try it."

"Go ahead." I kicked his arm as he reached for his forehead protector.

He reached for it again and this time lifted it to reveal his Sharingan. "Let's see if this works against the undead."

I smirked and attacked with the taijutsu I'd learned from Lee. They were the only moves I knew that required no chakra. He kept up easily, but kept misjudging the timing. I leapt back, confused. "What's wrong with you?"

"I expected you to fight more like you did before." He continued when I stared at him silently. "You moved with something of a rhythm before. Sometimes it made you predictable, but it also helped your teammates to fight alongside you. Especially Naruto, since he has nothing of the sort."

"Oh." I hadn't been aware of any "rhythm."

"You never even noticed." He looked amused.

I answered by hurling a rock at his face, which he almost dodged. He prepared for a quick lunging attack, but his stomach growled loudly and he fell over. He looked almost as foolish as Naruto. "I guess it's time for a lunch break."

"Hn." I stared at nothing in particular while he ate. The blood-filled thermos he brought me seemed less appetizing than Naruto's dirty socks. He kept shooting me strange glances and prompting me to eat something. I almost compared him to my mother. We resumed our training when he finished.

Hours later he held up his hands to stop me from attacking. I gave him a quick kick to the ribs and pretended I hadn't noticed his hands in time. He annoyed me sometimes.

"It's getting late Sasuke, and it's too dark to really see anything." He looked at his wrist for a watch he never wore. "Which means DINNER! Let's go." He retrieved his things and began walking. "Naruto lost a bet last week and he's buying me ramen."

I chose not to bother telling him I could see fine. I opted for the even more obvious reaction instead. "Naruto…?"

He ruffled my hair in what he must have thought was a comforting manner. "Yeah, he's fine. Tsunade gave him a blood transfusion and the Kyuubi took care of the rest. You just hurt him a little and made him _really_ mad. There was no dying involved."

"Yeah. I'll bet he'll try to bite my head off."

He seemed to find that funny. "Just don't bite him back this time."

I glared and followed him to Naruto's.

**END CHAPTER**

Naruto: YOU BETTER NOT BITE E AGAIN YOU DEAD MUSTARD!

Kakashi: Mustard?

Naruto: Kisei isn't allowed to use swear words (A/N I actually am now that I'm 18, but people found this amusing so…)

Sasuke: …mustard…? HEY! –brutally beats Naruto over the head with a catsup/ketchup(pick whichever spelling you like best) bottle-

Kisei: Please, ignore these guys and REVIEW!!!!!!!! Or the ninja will get you!


	6. Hate

Kisei: Okay, While I don't like to explain myself too much, I feel I should, since you people don't understand meh ;-;

I know nothing about vampires and little about the ninjaness stuff, so any incorrect information should be taken as "Oh, Kisei's an idiot who chose to write about something she doesn't undserand and/or knows little or nothing about.

Kakashi does act all happy around other people a lot. Kishimoto-sensei simply moves the story a bit faster than me so you see less of it... No, really, it's true. So while it doesn't upset me at all, I really do want to know how people can find him too chirpy when it's considered perfectly reasonable for Naruto and Sasuke to fight constantly in fanfiction when they've actually only fought twice so far... and the more recent on is going slooow...

The material of Kakashi's mask is often shown as thin enough that I can see his lips when he's shown from the side, so from the stretching of the material and shadows one would be able to notice him smiling if they looked close enough.

Besides that I'm nothing but bouncy and overjoyed cuz when I typed this up I had 41 reviews! -bounces around chanting 41 reviews- and now it's 45!!!!!!

Sasuke: There really is something wrong with her.

Shikamaru: Yea... she's as much a pain in the butt as Naruto and Kiba...

Kiba: I'VE FINALLY BEEN MENTIONED!

Kakashi: Kisei doesn't own Naruto –peace-

Kisei: Oh, and it's either short chapters or somehow even longer intervals O.O So please stop telling me how short they are, three MS word pages IS a long chappie for teh Kisei, trust me. Unless I'm reading that is . ; heh...heh... This is the longest thing I've written in my entire life -poses dramatically-

----

I was barely through Naruto's door before he had me slammed against the wall and thoroughly threatened. He glared at me angrily for a few seconds before letting me go and walking over to Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei," He whined, looking as pathetic as he was capable of. "Why'd you have to bring _that_?"

At the tone of Naruto's voice, Kakashi and Lee, who must have been in on the bet as well, looked shocked, nearly to the point of falling off their chairs. I ignored him and sat down on the opposite side of the room.

"Naruto-kun..." Kakashi began, but Naruto cut him off before he could get any farther.

"No, Kakashi-sensei. Don't even _try_ telling me that Sasuke is still a 'person'. He's not. He's a monster, not a cute harmless one like me, but a monster who tries to kill the people who trust him!" Naruto snarled, glaring at me as he spoke to the jounin.

Kakashi just sighed. Somehow Lee was either speechless, or had resisted the urge to start spouting something that none of us would care about or understand. It was more likely the former than the latter.

"Naruto-kun, I wasn't going to tell you that Sasuke-kun is still a person. I thought you, of all people, would understand that. But, I _was_ trying to tell you that he didn't bite you intentionally."

"Yea, right. He knew he was gonna before he even did it!"

"What?" Lee finally spoke up. "How could you know that? Sasuke would have tried to avoid biting you if he'd known, wouldn't he?" Lee looked confused. I guess talking like a sane person was difficult for him.

"Well... he tried to leave and told me to let go of him after I stopped him..." Naruto obviously didn't like remembering that I _had _tried to keep from biting him. "But he could have stopped himself if he'd really wanted to!"

"I doubt it." Kakashi said. "It was new to him; he had no idea how to fight it, or even that he _could_ fight it."

When exactly did Kakashi become an expert in Sasuke 101?

The blonde just sat and glared at him for a while. Then he muttered something, but I doubt anyone could tell what it was. The two sitting with him asked what it was he'd said, but he only repeated it a little louder, just loud enough for me to hear it with my 'super vampy hearing'.

Naruto had said, "He said 'Sorry...'."

They asked again, but Naruto refused to repeat it. Then he hid it by enthusiastically digging into his bowl of ramen. Kakashi shook his head, sighing slightly, and mimicked the younger ninja. Lee ate his looking somehow determined. The again, maybe that was just his eyebrows playing tricks on me?

Afterwards Kakashi and I went home, and Naruto glared at me 'till we were out of sight. Lee had been a bit confused, but he had met up with Gai, who he would undoubtedly ask for advice.

Once at Kakashi's house, I suddenly found myself pushed onto the couch, with the silver haired man looked down at me. I didn't even bother moving into a more comfortable position, but I instead stared up at him, waiting.

"What did he say?"

"What?" I asked, sounding more confused than I was.

"What Lee-kun and I couldn't hear. What was it?"

"Oh." I thought about saying I hadn't heard him, after all, I had been even further from him than the other two. "He said that... I'd said sorry."

He seemed surprised. "He did?"

"Yes."

"You heard right?"

"Yes."

"So he doesn't hate you as much as he made us think!"

I blinked. "How's that work?"

"Naruto led us to believe that he hated you more than anything else, but if that was true, he would never have said that." His eye curved up and Kakashi made a peace sign at me.

"Whatever."

I had the nightmare again that night. Kakashi had tried to determine why I was having that particular nightmare repeatedly. I would have told myself that I'd get used to it, that eventually it'd be like every other nightmare I'd ever had, but I knew better. This was one of those things people weren't even consciously afraid of, but it was also one that people, including myself, would _always_ be afraid of.

I awoke the next morning to breakfast followed by training. We broke for lunch, and continued training till nightfall. The two of us then returned to Kakashi's house and our very different versions of dinner. This schedule went on every singe day for who really knows how long.

At some point, somewhere between three and seven months later, Kakashi took me to see the Hokage after breakfast. For some reason, I actually felt as though I were about to be judged and that it was important. I think others might have described it as being "nervous" or having "butterflies in my stomach".

We passed through the door to find a great many people, both important and not, standing in the room with Tsunade, awaiting our arrival. Looking around I saw Naruto glaring at me, Sakura quivering in a chair, and Shikamaru staring boredly at the ceiling. Just about everyone I'd ever spoken to was in that room, staring pointedly either at or away from me. Kakashi led me to a point directly in front of the woman Konoha called its leader. She looked angrily resigned, or resignedly angry, either one.

The room grew quiet as I reached it's front, opposite the door I'd come in through. Kakashi stood quietly beside me, trying his best to stay as emotionless as myself. He seemed to get worse at it each time he tried.

Tsunade drew herself up to her full height, which wasn't quite as tall as Kakashi or myself, and took a deep breath, preparing for the speech she was about to give most of Konoha. "Uchiha Sasuke, charged with the attempted murder of Uzumaki Naruto, has been found not guilty due to temporary loss of control o sanity, probably both. He will be permitted to resume his duties as a citizen of Konohagakure, but will be living with Hatake Kakashi until further notice. If he attempts to murder another, without orders that is, then he will be sentenced to death, no matter what his mental state happens to be. Until such time as we can be certain of his self-restraint, he will be guarded at all times. Also, we will be searching for a way to return his soul to his body. Anyone is welcome to help." She let out her breath, appearing to be a balloon as it deflates after being blown up.

Kakashi grinned down at me, his eye curved so much that I was tempted to tell him it'd get stuck like that.

----

Kisei: Yay! My short attention span lasted another chapter!

Sasuke: why don't you go torture your own character? Naid I think it was... leav me alone. –glare of death-

Kisei: O.O

Kakashi: Yay! I've been appearing more!

Naruto:... I'm mean? And confusing? AAAH! I DON'T GET IT!!! .


	7. Master

Gah! Gomen! Gomen! Gomen! Gomen! I never actually meant this chapter to take so long to write, but if anyone wants proof that I haven't had time, I have –counts- 58 (WHAT! FIFTY EIGHT! GAAAAH! I'M GONNA DROWN!) unread mangas that belong to various people that I may or may not know.

Wow… I have one more review than when I last checked, and it's a complaint that I stopped updating. X.x

Real quick I would like to point out: If I'm repeatedly stating that I'm working on something, really I am, I haven't stopped updating, I've run into writers block. And I think this chappie shows it too –dies- no bad reviews allowed. It's not as good as the other chapters….but um… it's slightly more fun –sweatdrop- I hate that the smilies I sooooo love to use don't work in here…and I usually use the asterisk for actions too –sob- stupid away all my fun… I'm rambling..

Since this has been asked and I don't think I answered: Yes, Sasuke IS getting better at reading Kakashi's emotions, but it's a combination of his living with Kakashi and his bothering to look. I think he could have read Kakashi before if he had bothered to look, but being able to smell things such as some emotions might help –stupid smilie thing I can't use…sob-

Starting now!

(insert random symbol it won't let me type anymore here)

Once at his house, Kakashi suggested that we somehow celebrate my newly gained freedom. I tried to tell him, repeatedly, that it was a stupid idea; I hadn't even liked parties when I was alive, but Kakashi could be nearly as stubborn as Naruto and Lee together when he wanted to.

"Come on, Sasuke-kun! You should be happier that they aren't killing you!" He sounded both happy and annoyed, which is _really_ hard to pull off.

"I'm living on a technicality, sensei. And it isn't even a good one." I glared at him, but Kakashi was so accustomed to it that he didn't even blink.

"Fine." When he said that, I was so relieved I nearly let myself want to smile. "We'll forget about celebrating your freedom."

"Thanks." I should have known he didn't sound disappointed enough.

"Instead, we'll celebrate your seventeenth birthday. It's tomorrow, right?"

"What?" Since when was it even July?

"July 23rd _is_ your birthday, right?" He asked, digging out a piece of paper that probably had special dates written on it.

"…Yea…" I hadn't even realized it'd been that long…

Kakashi looked annoyed… in an oddly humorous way. "You're spacing out, Sasuke-kun."

"Whatever." I went to what had become my room and lay down on what had become my bed.

I didn't see him again until the next day, but from the moment he woke me up, I could tell he had plotted something.

"Heya, Sasuke-kun!" Kakashi grinned through his mask rather suspiciously. "Get dressed already; it's time for your party." He was _still _grinning.

Kakashi left my room so I could change. I dressed quickly, but as soon as I was done, I slipped out the window instead of going out to meet him. I knew a place where I could relax and spend the day in peace.

I was a small clearing in the forest containing what could only pass as a lake because the water was just deep enough not to completely evaporate at any point during the year. The water was still and cool, and always gave me the illusion of being clean even if I had already brushed my foot across a fish or strange underwater plant. It was always quiet there, without being the eerie silence of an empty building. My footsteps didn't echo, and there was no reason to feel uncomfortable making a sound because my voice would seem to blend itself into the calm, natural silence of the clearing. I could always see the light of the sun, but even when it was directly overhead, it never blinded me, never got in my eyes, never hurt my skin. When I was there, the presence of someone following me was always harmless, nearly non-existent. I didn't have to worry about anything or anyone.

But when I arrived, it was nothing like that. Kakashi had obviously known I would attempt an escape, and he moved the party to the very place he knew I would escape to. The usually motionless water was being splashed and thrown around. My silence had been invaded by a deafening bombardment of excruciatingly harsh noise that not only failed to flow as my silence had, but it jarred my eardrums and left me feeling as though I had been beaten repeatedly over the head with a particularly large bat. Faced with this onslaught in the only place I had been able to find peace, I did the only thing I could possibly have done at the time.

I ran.

My spontaneous running, however, did me no good. I didn't even make it back to the house before Kakashi had grabbed me and dragged me back to the hideous defilement of my sanctuary. Most of the people I knew were there, and so were a few who I'd never met in my life. They all looked happy as they played around loudly and actually spilled punch in the lake! I was ready to kill them all just for that. Then I saw someone who shouldn't have been there at all. Naruto.

He was innocently playing something that looked like a cross between Duck, Duck, Goose and Hide and Seek with Sakura, Hinata, and Konohamaru's group. I forgot what everyone else was doing, even Kiba spilling _more_ punch into my lake, to just stare in wonder. Naruto shouldn't have come. Did Kakashi even tell him who's Birthday they were celebrating? If he had known, Naruto wouldn't have come, would he?

I decided he wouldn't have when a saw the glare he sent my way as soon as Kakashi dragged me into the clearing. He continued playing his game, but Sakura immediately came over squealing a particularly loud "Sasuke-kun!" into me poor ear. Then, being as how no girl can see another being annoying without joining in, Ino ran over and did the same thing, except for the fact that she nearly knocked my into a tree when she jumped me. The Sakura had to jump her to keep her from jumping me, and I _did_ run into the tree. I was eventually saved from loud high-pitched shrieks so annoying I couldn't even tell what the girls were saying when Kakashi dragged me away with the excuse of presents.

Everyone there had apparently brought something of little to no importance that they expected me to keep and treasure as an amazing and priceless birthday gift. I immediately decided to throw most of it away as soon as I was home. Kakashi had given me new copies of his perverted books, which I would have burned except that He would then give Tsunade a good reason to have me killed. Sakura gave me something I think was a hand made Sasuke-bear, and some rock-hard brownies. Everyone else gave me just as random thins, but the worst one had to be the dog biscuit from Kiba and Akamaru. Naruto gave me nothing.

I was then forced to eat a large amount of cake with far too much sugar to be edible. By the time I began spitting it in Kakashi's face instead of eating it, he had already decided on making me swim a race for what he termed "fun." He dragged me over and threw me out over the water so I would land in the middle of the lake before I had even figured out why a race would be fun. I will give him some credit though, and assume he never knew about the kunai far too conveniently flying towards the same spot. I took the fact that he fell in the lake as soon as he saw it as proof. I, having my "amazing" vampire skills, caught the kunai, threw it back, and fell in the lake. Note the falling in the lake that would NEVER had happened if I was a ninja. Walking on water was one of many skills I greatly missed. Once I had resurfaced, I found that I had hit my attacker, but he was still standing at the edge of the lake.

It was especially odd looking since the kunai was protruding from his unusually pale neck.

The younger ninjas had already run to take cover and the older ones were all ready to fight, but I just stared at him from in the lake. He was tall, dark haired, and red eyed. Based on the kunai and fangs that showed up when he grinned, I guessed that he was a vampire. Why he was there, though, I couldn't guess.

"What do you want?" I knew I didn't sound quite as threatening as I probably should have tried to be, but I really didn't care either way. He just continued grinning down at me. "What?" This time I did sound angry, but he just widened his grin.

"Come."

It was nothing more than a single, harmless, meaning less word, but I found myself unable to disobey it. I tried with all my might not to pull each arm forward and then back in a swimming motion. I repeatedly told my legs to stop kicking. None of it did any good though.

"Who are you?" I stood, dripping, in front of him.

He grinned.

I suddenly desperately hated that grin. I wanted to wipe it off his face, and if I found myself unable to do so and had to simply remove his entire head, I was okay with that too. I lunged at him, ready to tear his head off with my bare hands since I didn't have any weapons with me at the time. As I was running towards him I almost forget that I couldn't use chakra anymore, but I stopped myself from attempting a jutsu just in time to avoid looking like an idiot.

"Stop."

I froze. I just stopped, just like he said and found myself unable to move towards him any more. "What the hell…?"

"Your name is Sasuke, correct?"

I spat on him.

"Am I right?"

"No." I answered angrily.

"Then what is it?"

"Leave me alone before I rip your esophagus out with my mind."

"Sasuke it is then." He smiled. "I am Yukio, but you, Sasuke-kun, will be calling me Master for some time."

Everyone did the annoying and dramatic gasping in unison thing that I've always found to be a bit annoying even when I'm forced to participate in it. I believe I simply looked more annoying than I ever had in my life up to that point. "Hell no."

"Sasuke-kun, you shouldn't be disobedient to your master, especially not when he came all this way to get you. Most vampires show up on their master's doorstep soon after they awaken, but I guess you weren't as good a choice as I though you would be." He sighed disappointedly. "You're going to have to train longer than most. That really is unfortunate considering how much you obviously hate anyone having authority over you."

"What the hell are you talking about?" My annoyance deepened.

False tears welled in his eyes. "You mean you don't even know that much? Oh, what kind of pathetic vampire have I created that doesn't even want to eat something better than a pig." I decided that were he alive, this Yukio would fit in particularly well in Konoha. "With the exception of the demon over there…" He motioned to Naruto. "which is pretty sad, Sasuke-kun. Most vampires would choose even pig's blood over demon's blood. That's what happens with you ninjas though. You all get funny in the head and do crazy things." He sighed again. "That's why we were attacking normal villagers, duh." The he began to grin again. "Anyways! We'd better get going before you miss your first hunt! It'll be great! Especially since you've already done a little bit of training-I can tell because you're strong enough to back talk me- so you should actually be able to catch a good one."

"A good what?" Kakashi asked.

"Meal of course! And since we're vampires that would mean a good human. I could send him after one of you, but that's supposed to wait till after his training, unless he really wants you dead for this party thing that is…?" He looked at me questioningly. "Well?" He asked when I said nothing.

"If I wanted them dead, they already would be."

For some reason, not a single ninja seemed completely happy with the way I had phrased that.

(that was the end... die or lemme use meh symbols-sob-)

Okay, anyway, um… I think this might have actually been longer than the other chapters, but it doesn't signiofy any hope for the futre. This is nothing more than an anomaly and you will all return to being disappointed with the overly shortness of my chapters and how rarely I update soon enough

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Okay, I'm kidding, I'm not actually happy about any of this… if I was a better writer they'd all be long and pretty and perfect and written in periods of time that don't have to be measure in months -sob- I should probably go to be… but I'm hyper… all my sobbing tonight is fake… ohno! I just gave away that I write the before it thing and the after it thing at the same time! …not really but I did now… that's my hyperness for you…x.x good thing I only have Japanese class tomarrow…

THANK YOU JUNIORS FOR HAVING TESTING!


	8. Hunt

I'm sorry this is late. sucks and I wasn't allowed to post for a while. But I wrote it on the 25th! …It's like a birthday present, except that I should be receiving something on my birthday rather than giving it… uh… anyway… lookie! It's my b-day!

Weeeee! Someone told someone else to read it! -spins around in freakishly happy circles- Some actually thought my fic was good enough to tell someone about it, and then that someone read it, and they liked it! ….I got a death threat though… so I figured I should start the next chapter…

I recently realized that a lot of people were angry when I almost re-killed Sasuke….I'd forgotten about that….-was reading reviews- …..heh…. I do that…. Okay…. Go back and read ones I've already read…. Yea… oh! And the people with smart ideas that I'd have never have thought of if I tried, should tell me… I don't always think of things… and so far I remember two suggestion/questions… and I've already used one and plan to use the other… why? These people are smarter than me…-sweatdrop- a lot smarter… I send you smart people thanks –sends-

I apologize for my mass amounts of typos! They bug me every time I have to reread something to remember what's going on, but I plan on fixing them someday… After I finish the story…. I hope they don't ruin it for anyone…. I wonder if that's what was wrong in my other fics when people had no clue what was going on… probably not

It's sad, but I had to ask Miyabewa for help on which way my plot should go… so I'll thank her, and let everyone know that I suck so much I couldn't even decide that… x.x

I sound depressed but I've actually just been doing algebra o.O Math has that effect on me.

Um… I only started on my b-day…. It's like two or three weeks later now, but I couldn't come up with what should happen next….but I do have the basic outline of the plot for a while, I just don't know a single detail! -sweatdrop-

**Random symbol I can no longer use that separates comments from story**

"Well, let's get going then." He flashed that maddening grin of his.

I hissed. "No."

He sighed. "Sasuke, you really are becoming annoying. We need to leave _now_. If we take much longer it will be too late, and then what will I do." He faked a sob. "I'll be all alone in the world. No friends, no family, nothing… Come to think of it, I won't be much different than you are now." He grinned. "Man that really sucks." Yukio began walking away from me. "Come on."

"No." I was moving forward anyway. "Stop that already!" I half snarled, half screamed at him.

We both stopped moving at the same time. "Well, if you would just come on your own, I never would've had to do that." His eyes looked wide and innocent. "I really did give you a choice between the two."

Everyone stared with the uncomprehending look I've found to be far too common in Konoha.

Kakashi stepped forward slight, reaching his hand out from across the clearing. "Sasuke-kun, what exactly is going on?"

"He's going off with his own kind." When Naruto spoke, he sounded a bit too happy for my taste.

"Naruto!" Kakashi was angry. I was a little glad to see that he cared enough about me to bother, but… I also knew it was a reflex. Naruto does something bad, Kakashi yells. Iruka's the same way. Most adults who've been near him for a prolonged period of time are.

"It's true." Naruto was just as angry. "And I think we should let him go. We already know that _thing_ doesn't belong here! He can't, won't, and shouldn't! Let him go."

In a flash, Kakashi was across the clearing, and he punched Naruto square in the face. The blonde stood up, spitting blood, and growled at him. "What's wrong with you!" I don't know which one yelled that. Maybe both of them did. It doesn't matter.

"Now, now." Yukio spoke up calmly. "Why don't you all just stop fighting. It's never fun when one of us has to leave on a bad note."

"You're right," Kakashi smiled through his mask. "Naruto and I shouldn't be fighting." He abruptly stopped smiling, and glared at the vampire. "We should all be fighting you." With than he began to run at Yukio, his Chidori already activated.

When the vampire dodged, Kakashi rammed his fist into a tree instead. Then, many of the others joined him in attacking Yukio. Naruto growled and left, and Konohamaru looked confused before following him. Most of the people I didn't know left too, but other than them, everyone attacked. I almost smiled.

Before anyone could reach him, the stupid vampire was suddenly gone. I heard him say, "Hurry up Sasuke-kun," softly, but when I looked around, no one else seemed to have noticed. "It's time to go."

I left.

I didn't know where I was going, but I knew he was making me go there. When I saw him again, Yukio was grinning as he stood in front of a small cave. "We can sleep here until night." I didn't at all like the idea of curling up beside him in a cave, but he didn't give me any choice in the matter.

Right after sunset, he woke me up and we walked away from Konoha. I remembered when I had left somewhere around four or five years earlier, when I left to join Orochimaru and wondered if they would allow me to return a second time.

The first place he brought me to was a fairly small village. I doubted any ninja had ever even visited that village for more than a day's time, much less lived there. He stood beside me grinning as we watched the lights go out in the small houses. After all the windows were dark, a boy close to my age moved from where he had been chopping logs to enter his house. When he saw us, he began walking over, probably to ask if we needed a place to stay. I never found out.

"Hunt." Yukio wasn't grinning anymore. He was serious, but he didn't force me. He wanted me to kill the boy all on my own.

"No." I wasn't going to give him what he wanted.

"Why?" He asked, his voice lined with trace amounts of anger. "Aren't you hungry?"

"I don't feel like it."

He grinned again. "Well I doubt you feel like starving to death, Sasuke-kun. And _I_ won't be giving you old animal blood."

I was hungry, and he knew it as well as I did. I hadn't eaten since the night before, and it was beginning to catch up to me. Yukio could read me as easily as if he had known me my entire life and would continue to know me for the rest of. That would be far too long for me though. Despite this, I could somehow tell that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to escape from him. I wanted to start by not killing the boy still walking slowly towards us from down the street.

"Hunt." He said, his voice more forceful this time, but still not controlling. He still wanted me to hunt of my own free will.

And I did.

My hunger somehow managed to overcome my will to defy Yukio, and I rushed at the boy, biting his neck before I could think enough to convince myself not to. I knew I would, and I knew I should, but I wanted to eat.

When I had finished, I wiped my mouth and snarled at myself as though I were a wild animal. I had no conscience, no will power, and definitely no self control. I was as good as the animal I found myself seeing myself as, the animal I saw Yukio as.

I realized though, that I would never be able to become anything else. Change is an ability awarded to humans, so that they may repent for what they were foolish enough to do in the past. I rarely took advantage of this ability in my life, and I would never have it again now that I was dead. I would spend the rest of my unnaturally long life as a mindless beast who would follow Yukio's orders as a dog does his master's, without a second thought.

We traveled the rest of the night, and rested during the day. We continued this for the next three or four days, and then Yukio brought me into a large, seemingly abandoned building. Inside I was introduced to a group of others such as myself, none of which gave me their names. There was one who showed me where I was to sleep, but after that I never saw him again.

The next night was when my training began. Yukio brought me out and taught me what I had been unable to teach myself. He tested what I had learned, and criticized what I had learned wrong. We didn't stop until the next morning, when I once again feasted on the blood of a living human and went to bed.

The next few months passed in much the same way. I trained all night, either with Yukio himself or with someone a bit closer to my level, ate once every night or two, and slept through the harsh bright hours of the day. Not much changed, and I began to doubt that there was much of anything to change. I wasn't bored though. I didn't allow myself to think enough to feel much of anything.

**Random symbol **

I like Yukio –grin- Don't ask why, I just do.

Anyway! Please, please, please leave a review! Even if you hated it, leave one!

And feel free to correct me as much as you want, just be warned: I may stick my tongue out or attempt to throw something at you.


	9. Kyo

So, after TWO YEARS of silence, Sasuke returns! I hope some of you still read this, and I actually hope to someday finish this fic completely. Even if it seems as though I've given up, I'll come back to it someday. And I think once I finish the whole thing, I'll go through and edit it all so it sounds better and blah blah blah, whatever.

Anyway! Forsaken has become (what???) a crossover fic!!! I decided back before I stopped writing that it would intersect with a fic my younger sister, Jerika was writing. I made Sasuke a vampire, and not too long afterwards, she made Kyo from Fruits Basket a vampire. It just seemed fitting, so enjoy! Or not, but I hope you do.

There are some inconsistencies in the current version of her fic with mine, cuz Sasuke wasn't originally a part of it, but I don't think she's even put much up, so whatever. And she doesn't really plan to finish hers like I do mine… Um… I don't even know that this part of the comments matter, or that any of them do… er… nevermind.

CHAPTER START!

"Did you think I wouldn't notice?" Yukio glared down at me, rage burning behind his blood red eyes. "I know everything about you, Sasuke-kun, _everything_. And I damn well noticed."

I tried not to look him in the eye, and tried to hide it from him. "I did nothing."

Yukio snarled. "Technically." At least he wasn't grinning, though I realized months ago that Yukio's wrath was far worse than his amusement, regardless of which one annoyed me more. "But I saw you feed, Sasuke. I saw you feed on scoundrels and drunks, on the worthless scum who no one would even consider missing."

I flinched. I had tried hard to hide that, especially from Yukio. It took all of my strength to hold on to my identity as a shinobi, and to fight my new one as a monster. The only way I found to express it to myself was to avoid killing innocents. "You're not a ninja any more." Yukio spoke softly. When he saw the surprise in my eyes, he continued. "You know by now that I can read your thoughts; you can hide _nothing_ from me, Sasuke, so stop trying. You aren't a ninja anymore, you're a vampire. Act like it. Yes, you lost you chakra and your soul, but you gained powers no mere shinobi could ever possess. Use them." He took a small drink from a ceramic mug he always kept at his desk. "You are not Uchiha Sasuke any more. And if I have to take even the name from you to make you accept that, I will." He put the mug down with enough force to crack it and send water splashing over the sides. "Now. You're going to leave behind your little ninja game and obey my orders."

I glared at him, letting my eyes burn red, but said nothing. I stood with his back straight and defiant, but cursed myself for lacking the courage to tell Yukio what I thought. It didn't matter that Yukio already knew. It didn't lessen my cowardice the slightest bit. Without warning, my vision began to blur, and Yukio's room faded. Rather than disappearing, it became something else. A boy. He stood, proud and moody, with bright orange hair and brown-red eyes. In his right hand he held a bag, and he wore school uniform. I thought he was a little older than I was when Yukio sired me, but I couldn't be sure.

"You will kill him." Yukio's voice broke through the image he created in my mind. The room stood before me again, a tussled bed in one corner, a window with deep red curtains in the center of the wall opposite it, and a large desk of dark wood with a cracked ceramic mug. And Yukio. "And you will sire him."

I turned to leave the room, refusing to force anyone to share the fate Yukio had forced on me. I would never—Burning. I saw familiar buildings and forest from his home. Faces I knew well, contorted by fear as my friends tried frantically to put out the fires consuming Konoha. Burned and burning corpses littered the streets; lay in houses where they had failed to escape. When the image faded, I stood trembling, with my fist clenched so tightly the nails bit into my skin and drew blood. I licked the blood from my palms automatically, and knew I could never let Yukio destroy my home. _Yes_, I thought at him, _Konoha is my home. Not this place._ I would do it. I would kill this boy. I had no choice.

Yukio brought me to the place, a wooded area near a large family's estate, where he hid himself from the boy's eyes, and left the rest to me. The boy sat on the log of a fallen tree, muttering to himself confused and dejected. "I'm so stupid!" I glided towards him from behind and sat on the log so silently he never noticed. "What did she mean?" He glanced up from his hands, which had held his face before, and saw me sitting beside him. Jumping in surprise, he shouted, "What are you doing here?"

I looked at him levelly, and let no emotion show on my face. "What are _you_ doing here?" I knew I was stalling, and Yukio knew it too; I could feel my sire's impatience.

"Sitting on a log; what's it look like?" Annoyance showed on the redhead's face and in his voice. I turned away from him and said nothing. "Hey, don't just ignore me!" He made a fist and shook it at me. When I made no response, he lowered his fist. "Who are you anyway?"  
Turning towards him again, I said softly, "I am eternal despair."

"What do you mean by that?"

I stood, no longer able to hide the sorrow I felt. "This…" I grabbed the boy's shoulders, pulled him close and bit into his neck. When he passed out from loss of blood, I sliced expertly through My own wrist and held it to the boy's mouth.

He drank hungrily, and I saw the boy's life flash before my eyes as though it were my own. His name was Kyo, and he came from a large family, a cursed family. A girl had sent him to the woods in confusion, a kind and happy girl with eyes full of sunshine, soft brown hair, and smile that could brighten even the darkest of Kyo's days: Tohru. Kyo loved her. I had never felt love like that before. I loved my family before Itachi murdered them, and I loved Itachi once, and I loved my friends. But Kyo's love was different. I couldn't explain it, and I couldn't understand it, so I stopped trying. I let Kyo's body drop to the ground, and moved to stand nearer Yukio.

"Good. Now we just have to wait for him to wake." Yukio smiled triumphantly down at me, and glared at him with icy cold hatred.   
I waited a few days before showing himself to Kyo again. He was mumbling to himself in the woods again. "What the heck happened to me?" He turned towards me, and I sat down silently, watching him. "What the fuck did you do to me?"

Steadily, I gazed at him, forcing myself not to leave or look away. "I… changed you." I had no idea how to tell Kyo that I had forced him into the ranks of the forsaken, and away from the one he loved.

Kyo glared at me. "I figured that out."

I cocked his head slightly. _Sure you did, you smart ass._ "Then how are you different?

Confusion and uncertainty shone in Kyo's eyes. "Well… Why should I answer you?" He didn't know.

Annoyed, I tried to say something the idiot would understand. "Because you suck, and I don't."

Kyo growled deep in his throat and charged at me, his fists ready to fly, but the I deftly caught his arm, swung him around and threw him into the trunk of a tree. Kyo scrambled to his feet and ran at me, but I flicked him between the eyes and avoided every attack. The new vampire growled, readying himself for another attack.

"Calm down, Kyo." I made my voice firm and commanding, without taking the decision from the taller boy.

Kyo stopped in confusion. "How do you know my name?"

I wasn't ready yet to tell him that I knew everything about him because when I sire him, I formed a bond between us that gave me great power over him and left him a broken and damned being without a soul. "Missing posters." The lie tasted weak on my tongue.   
He stumbled and fell to his face. "Missing posters? Like when you lose a dog?" The anger in his voice smothered his confusion.

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

What kind of a moron was he? "Yes, like when you lose a dog."

He clenched his fists. "Don't call me a dog." I wondered if the comparison made him think of the man who turned into a dog, Shigure, but I chose not to look. I wasn't Yukio, and I would let this boy live his own life, as much of it as he had left anyway.

"I didn't." He called himself a dog, not me.

"Yes you did."

"Moron."

"Hey!" In annoyance, I ignored him. Kyo turned away from me. "This isn't getting anywhere." He began to walk away from me, his shoulders tensed in anger.

To his back, I said, "You're dead."

He froze. When he spoke it was with sarcasm, but I could hear the touch of uncertainty behind his words. "Yeah, right."

"Have you eaten?"

"No…" I could tell he answered reluctantly. He should have been starving, but Kyo was just fine.

"Do you really think you're still alive?"

Kyo shook his head like he wanted to clear it. "I don't know."

I moved to stand in front of him. Looking him in the eyes, I spoke as clearly as I could. "You're dead. I killed you."

"You're crazy." He wouldn't believe me, even though he knew already it was true.

I pulled out one of my kunai and trust it into his heart. I pulled it out. "You're dead."


	10. Family

Not that I got enough reviews for this but… I finished chapter 10! But if you want 11, damnit, you better review! Or I'll… cry! And, and not write! Yeah, that's it!

I had trouble with this chapter, mostly cuz I suck at writing anyone fighting. Yeah, so the fight is short. Like very. You'll deal. Hopefully…

Disclaimer: still not mine.

I love Yukio, but sometimes a part of me just wants to throttle him. I'm never sure which side wins out.

I think this chapter might have more swearing than previous ones. Sasuke's not in his happy place, and he has a bit of a temper. Not my fault, he did it all on his own.

And I googled what you call someone who got sired, cuz I knew the word sire… If I used it wrong or something or whatever, feel free to tell me. Seriously, I don't know any better.

**CHAPTER TEN: Family**

I left Kyo alone with the painful epiphany Yukio forced me to bring him. He could have had a little longer, a few days at least. My childe, Yukio called Kyo, just as he sometimes referred to me as his childe. At first I thought he said it to tease me, that it was just one of those things Yukio did because it bothered me. I guess I was wrong.

"Sasuke!" Yukio's voice rang cheerfully through the entrance hall of the large, long abandoned house we lived in with the rest of his childer. He sired everyone there, so he held the same power over them as he did me. "I knew you could do it. Just wait, someday it won't bother you any more, and then you can be happy. Like me." He grinned broadly, as if to prove his point.

"Leave me alone." I passed by him and headed towards my room, the room he let me stay in. He let me. He gave it to me. More like lent it. It's my room, but only for so long as I please him. Of course, if he gets too upset with me, I won't need a room. I saw him kill one of his childer just before he made me sire Kyo. A small blond girl, I guess, decided to fall in love, or some such shit, so he decided he should be her only love, and that she needed to die. No one I asked was really clear on what actually happened.

I stopped short to avoid hitting my face on Yukio's hand, flattened vertically in the air before me. "Not just yet, Sasuke-kun." I could _hear_ his grin in his voice.

He took me by the hand and led me back the way I came, to what generally served as a room for Yukio to do whatever the hell he wants. I think it used to be the dining room. Everything about the room was dark. Black curtains blocked all light from the windows; dark brown wood felt cold against my bare feet as I walked in behind him; the lights stopped working long ago, so black and red candles supplied the room's only source of illumination or real color.

In the center of the room stood a tall, sturdy table made of the darkest wood I'd ever seen—I think the color was fake, but Yukio always insisted otherwise. On it sat a little girl in a bright yellow and white checkered dress. She swung her legs back and forth, alternating. When she saw Yukio, she hopped off the table and patted down her light brown hair, fixing the yellow ribbon that seemed only for decoration.

"Don't worry, Sasuke." Yukio patted me affectionately on the head until I slapped his hand away. "I don't want you to sire this one." He continued before I had a chance to feel relieved. "I want you to kill her."

"No!" I darted to the doorway, drawing a kunai, and held it defensively before me.

He only shook his head. "You know you can't win. Especially not like that, pretending to still be what you're not." He raised his hand, twitching his fingers to call me over. My legs moved on their own, carrying me to my sire. He lightly snatched the kunai from my weakened grasp. "Now. Obey."

I turned towards the little girl, who now sat huddle in the corner under the large table, rocking back and forth, crying. I hate when kids cry. It's so loud and annoying, like they think screeching will get them whatever they want. And if it's not, they somehow look so delicate and innocent that you can help but feel sorry for them, which just means they're better at faking you out. I admit, she honestly felt fear greater that she ever had before in her life, but that didn't mean I _wanted_ her to cry.

"I won't force your body to do this Sasuke." Yukio's voice sounded from behind me, like frozen steel. "I'll make your mind do it, and that, my childe, is how you will become one of my clan." His footsteps seemed to echo eternally as he walked up to me. "I'll make you want to kill this girl."

"You can't."

"Can't I?" I heard his damned smirk even though I couldn't see his face. "Do you really want to test me? I know we'll both test you." He walked outside and closed the door. I heard the creaking on the other side as he locked me in. Did he mean to starve me?

The girl sniffled in the corner, trying to be invisible. "What's your name?" I asked, my voice as indifferent as I knew how to make it.

She looked up tentatively, as though checking for the boogie-man. "Chiyo." Rubbing her nose with a grubby little hand, she asked, "Are you going to kill me?"

"No, Chiyo." I sat down and leaned against the wall. "I'm hoping to avoid that." I closed my eyes and drifted into sleep.

I woke to Chiyo shaking me by the arm and shouting "Wake up! Wake up!" Once I opened my eyes, she moved back and pointed to the window. "There's someone out there fighting the bad guys!"

I stood, shaking my head to clear it of the last remnants of sleep. At the window, I carefully pulled aside the black curtains to peek out. I saw only a man's back as he fought the vampires; he had black hair in a long tail and wore all black as well. When he turned towards me, I had a brief instant to realize he wore a mask before he hurtled towards the window. Grabbing Chiyo I leapt away from the window. As soon as we landed, I put Chiyo down and drew a kunai, assuming a defensive stance.

The man held his weapon casually, and reached up to remove his mask. "So it is true." I knew both his face and his voice well. "You're a vampire now." Itachi let the mask fall to the ground and raised his sword. "You're already dead."

I felt my nails bite into my hands as they grew into claws and my eyes changed to red. Running my tongue along my elongated and sharpened canines, I waited for his move. "You can't kill what's dead, Itachi." I bared my teeth. "But I can kill _you_."

He didn't reply except to change his eyes to the Mangekyou and charge at me. I turned away from him and blocked to my right. His genjutsu only tricked my eyes. I could smell him, feel him, even when I saw an illusion. He released the genjutsu, realizing it was useless. "You're stronger than before."

"It's been a few years." I charged at Itachi, exactly as I had so many times before, and he deflected my attack just as easily as he always did. More so I think. Yukio always went on about how much stronger vampires were than shinobi, but I was still too weak to fight Itachi. Weak.

"But still not strong enough, little brother." He thrust his katana through my gut, sending blood everywhere. It covered his chest and stomach, leaked down mine. He pulled out a sharpened piece of wood. "These are supposed to kill you." He hefted the stake, thrust it towards my chest.

I snarled, grabbed his wrist, and hurled him away from me. He crashed through the wall and landed rolling on the ground. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I unsheathed his shining, blood-stained blade from my flesh and slowly advanced towards him. Today Itachi would finally die. Today I would kill him.

He stood shakily and lunged at me, mindlessly, desperately. Itachi was afraid; I smelled it. Fear. Itachi feared me. I stopped him with a strength like nothing I'd ever felt before. It reminded me a little of the curse seal; it was strong, and foreign, while still a part of me. I crushed his skull in my fist. I felt the strength race through my blood, burning.

I killed Itachi.

I… I killed Aniki.

"A… aniki…" I fell to my knees beside my brother's corpse. It smelled of blood and sweat. I reached out to touch his ruined face; it felt wet and sticky. When I pushed to hard, it make a sickly squelching sound. I sat over my brother. I killed him. I avenged my family. I finished killing them.

I felt Chiyo tug at my sleeve. "Are you okay?" I hadn't noticed her approach me.

"No." I turned to her and thirst practically punched me in the face. I always ate less than the others, both because I didn't want to kill and I simply wasn't as hungry. I never used my strength as a vampire, so I required less blood. "He was my brother." I turned back, trying desperately to ignore her. "I killed him."

I heard her sniffle. "Why?" It came out as a fearful sob. She though I would kill her next.

"Because he killed everyone else." Everyone except me. The Uchiha clan died today. Itachi was the last. I swore after the massacre to avenge them _and_ restore my clan. I failed.

Every Uchiha died. _I_ died. Yukio killed me.

I died, for what? To save Naruto? Naruto hated me. We were friends once. I remembered his friendship, vaguely. Even as friends we always fought. I died to save him. He hated me. Yukio wanted him, not me. He could smell the power in Naruto, the Kyuubi, and he wanted it. I blocked Yukio; I saved Naruto. Yukio wanted him. Naruto hated me. Why did I even bother?

I killed Itachi.

For what? To avenge everyone he killed? To avenge my father? My father never acknowledged me. He was only ever proud of Itachi. He started paying attention to me after Itachi changed, after he killed his best friend. My mother said he loved me, but she probably lied. To keep me from getting a complex. Mothers do that sort of thing. Lot of fucking good it did. I didn't even know most of my family, not well. No one cared about a prodigy's little brother, not unless he was stronger. They didn't come back anyway. Killing him didn't save them, not now.

Itachi killed most of my clan. I just finished the job. I killed the last Uchiha with my own hands.

I dedicated my life to Itachi.

I didn't know what to do with it now.

Not live. Yukio killed me. Not return home. Naruto hated me. Not live. I was dead. I had no life to do something with.

I was dead.

I screamed and punched the hard wood of the floor, digging splinters into my knuckles. I was dead. Claw bit into my fists as I pummeled the floor. Yukio killed me. I moved forward, heaved my fists one after another into Itachi's chest until it caved. I killed Itachi. Lifting his corpse, I threw it into the dark, bloody wall. Naruto hated me. Blood and organs dripped and oozed from his opened corpse. I was as dead as he. I stared down at my hands, covered in blood, both his and mine.

Not quite.

I was a vampire.

I turned, and found Chiyo curled up under the table, her yellow dress covered in blood and dirt. "Chiyo, it's okay now. You can come out." She stared at me, her eyes wide with fear, but didn't run when I walked over to her. I helped her out from under the table and lifted her in my arms. "Are you okay?" She nodded stiffly, finally beginning to trust me again.

I smiled and bit into her neck, drained her blood as she screamed and continued when she stopped. She tasted sweet.

I was a vampire.

END CHAPTER

Sasuke: That sounds like I'm whining. I DON'T whine.

Kisei: It's not whining, it's character development.

Sasuke: Whiny character development.

Kisei: Fine! Whatever!

Itachi: WHAT?!?! Sasuke could never in a million years kill me! And he whines constantly.

Sasuke: I could kill you right now, and I NEVER whine!

Naruto::eats ramen::

Kakashi::reads dirty book::

Everyone else::ignores Sasuke in various ways::

Sasuke: Okay, wtf? I'm a vampire AND everyone ignores me?


	11. Becoming

Okay, fine. As far as I know there aren't yet five reviews, but I can't help it. I don't want to be unnecessarily mean to those of you who actually bother to read and review. So Thank You!

Erm… I own Naruto not?

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: Becoming**

"I'm proud of you, Sasuke-kun." Yukio's grin bothered me just as much as before. I snarled at him and tried to walk past, but he grabbed my arm to stop me. "But you still have so much to learn."

He led me through the black and red house to his room, never releasing his hold on my arm. He threw me onto his bed, covered in blood red silk sheets. I hissed as he lounged in a bright red chair. "It's time for you to become one of _my_ clan, Sasuke-kun."

I sat rigidly on his soft bed and waited. He had nearly as much trouble keeping quiet as Naruto, so I knew he'd speak up eventually. As I stared, I wondered if he'd known Itachi would come. I couldn't think of any other way for him to finally convince me I wasn't human any more. I became more and more certain as the silence stretched on, until I couldn't wait any longer. "You sent him."

"I told him. He decided to come on his own." He watched my hands; I held them perfectly still on his silken sheets. "I had a back up plan, but I'm glad he came."

I schooled myself into emotionless stillness. "Bastard."

"Isn't that what you wanted, Sasuke-kun? To kill your brother?" His grin took on a bloodthirsty air I'd only seen once before. "You finally did it, avenged your family. They can rest now and leave you be." He leaned forward. "So you can join _my_ family." His smile looked innocent and childish.

He sat back again as he waited for me to answer. I averted my eyes, focusing on his crimson lava lamp and deciding how to respond. "After you sired me, I didn't..."

"Turn into a bloodthirsty beast? No, you wouldn't." Yukio fiddled with a pen he lifted from his dark wood desk. "Everyone puts too much stock in the soul. All it determines is whether you're alive or not. It has nothing to do with your consciousness, your morals, ethics, or actions. It's just your life force." He nibbled the pen absently. "Your mind determines who you are, not your soul. That's why you remained yourself, mostly."

He stopped, waiting. I rolled my eyes; he wouldn't continue until I asked him to. "Mostly?"

"Well your basic instincts changed because you're a different species now, no longer human. That's why you bit your demon friend. Though I still gotta say his kind aren't the best for taste. You should've gone for the girl." He grinned and licked his lips.

I almost wanted to do the same. "She wasn't as readily available. And it wasn't intentional."

"Yeah, whatever." Yukio hopped up and joined me on his bed. He wrapped one arm around my shoulders, and the leather of his jacket irritated my wounds. "Now tonight!" He paused, excitedly giving me a squeeze. "Tonight you'll come on the hunt with me. Just the two of us. It'll be fun. Like father/son bonding time, or whatever." He grinned proudly at me; I sneered. "Now don't be like that."

He stood and opened his black door. "Go freshen up now, and meet me back here in a few hours."

I left his room, more annoyed with him than when he had continuously lectured me. I contemplated refusing to kill anyone just because he'd bother me less. Eventually my thirst convinced me that wouldn't work.

Most of my wounds had already healed by the time I finished my shower. I dressed in the generic, all black clothing Yukio provided me with after I wore out my own clothes, and reminded myself again to go find something blue.

I tried to sit on my indigo comforter and wait for an hour or so past nightfall, but I was _hungry_. I couldn't ignore it, however much I tried, and I felt excited and even hungrier every time tonight's hunt came to mind.

After a measly half hour, I gave up and headed for Yukio's room. If nothing else he'd probably let me grab a snack to tide me over, maybe a small child who wandered away from his house chasing fireflies.

I stopped outside his door at the sound of voices. "Quickly, Jiro. I'm expecting someone."

"Sasuke?" I heard the sneer in his voice. Jiro hated when Yukio gave attention to anyone else. He was Yukio's first childe, and he held desperately onto any powers or privileges that awarded him.

"Yes." I smirked; Yukio caressed the word with his tongue, taunting Jiro. "So I don't really have much time for you right now."

I pictured Jiro, fuming and red faced, working his jaw but refusing to voice any curse at his master.

"If you can't get it out now then come back later." He waited in silence for a few moments before continuing. "Go." I heard the command in his voice. It almost made _me_ want to leave.

"No." I gasped, louder than I wanted, and desperately hoped Yukio was too shocked to hear. Jiro denied a direct order, a forced order. Not even he should have been able to do that. "I—"

Yukio cut him off. "GET. OUT. NOW!" I heard movement and leapt up, propping myself up with the ceiling. I watched from above as Yukio physically threw Jiro out of the room, an abuse he usually reserved for me. Jiro skulked away without noticing me. Yukio looked up. "Hunger getting to you that badly?" I dropped down from the ceiling and followed him into his room. "You'll say nothing." I stared silently. "Don't tell _anyone_ about what you just heard." He made that a command, the kind only Jiro could ignore.

"You didn't know."

"If I did, you wouldn't have had a chance to hear." He pulled on his jacket. "Let's go. Maybe we can find someone small before everyone goes to sleep." He patted me on the head.

I snacked on a boy who we watched sneak out of his window after being sent to bed. We waited together for the village to fall asleep. Yukio seemed somewhat distracted, probably by Jiro. I was too. I wanted to know _how_ he did it, how he ignored Yukio's order. I wanted to ignore him too.

"You choose where." He said as we entered the village. I turned at the first house we came to. Green paint peeled off its walls, and a welcome mat lay on the porch, illuminated by a soft light. He rolled his eyes but smiled. "You're so boring, Sasuke. I mean: the very _first_ house? Couldn't you look for some fun?"

I turned the knob hard enough to snap the lock, but carefully enough to avoid making a raucous. We walked silently into the house, shadows cloaked in bloodlust. A cat napped on the back of a large chair and it purred softly when Yukio stroked its back. We moved through the pink house to the bedrooms at its back. Yukio entered the first one, a teenage girl's room. He would have fun with her. I continued on to the parents' room.

Dark teal walls accented the shadowed pink accessories. Only one figure lay in the bed, a single mother. I sat down softly on her large pink bed, and it wriggled beneath me; a water bed. She slept deeply, snoring softly.

I brushed a fiery red curl from her face. She looked about thirty-four, but I guessed she was probably closer to forty, based on her daughter's age. I placed my hand gently on her shoulder and shook it. "Wake up."

She murmured something and rolled over. "Wake up." I repeated, shaking her a little harder.

"What?" She opened her eyes slowly, and stared at me, confused. "Who're you? Whadayou want?"

"My name is Sasuke. You're in danger." I grimaced. "There's a vampire in your house. I think it already has your daughter."

"Eva!" She scrambled to get out of bed, but I stopped her before she reached the door, covering her mouth with my hand.

"Quiet. You can't stop it, and if you shout, it'll hear you." I kept my voice soft and low, and led her to the window. "You'll have to escape if you want to live. Your daughter's already lost."

"H…how did you get in?"

"I followed the vampire."

"So, your like a… a vampire hunter?"

I smiled. "Something like that."

A scream reached us from Eva's room. Her mother tried again to rush to her. "Stop. You can't help her! What's your name?"

"Alison." She stared at the door, desperate to save her daughter.

"Don't worry, Alison. I'll do my best to rescue her. Do you have a friend you can go to?"

She nodded "Da… David. He lives down the street."

"You'll have to go through the window. He'll notice if we pass him to go out the door." I opened the curtains and saw the dark street outside. I heard muffled screams from Eva, but they were too soft for Alison to notice. I opened the window quietly and pushed out the screen. "Come here." I held out my hand.

She walked to me, took my hand, and I helped her out the window. "Thank you, I… please save Eva." Alison threw her arms around me in a thankful hug.

"You're welcome." I smiled and bit her neck. She screamed as I drained her blood. When Alison died, I dropped her corpse to the green grass. "But I hate pink."

I turned and reentered the house, walking to Eva's room. "Are you done yet?" I asked Yukio, walking into the room. Eva looked like a younger version of her mother, fiery and beautiful. Strips of her purple sheets tied her wrists to her headboard and gagged her mouth. She lay dead and naked on her bloodied bed.

"Just finished." He zipped his pants and grinned. "Though maybe I should have let you have the younger one…"

"I don't care." We left the house and he saw Alison in the yard, a crumpled heap with burning red curls.

"Did she almost get away?" He looked at me quizzically.

"I couldn't stand her room."

He laughed and clapped me on the back. "You're a good kid. Strange, but good. And cute too." He patted me on the head and I broke his arm. He glared but just shoved the bones back into place and waited for it to heal.

We returned to his house, huge, red, and black. He talked at me in his room until morning when he sent me to bed, yawning. I couldn't remember a word he'd said.


	12. Every Time

Yo! Ch.12! This seems a little like filler to me… but everything needs filler I guess. I also felt the urge to remind everyone that he's recounting his past and this story _does_ have a present. Crazy. I think I was bored. Hopefully I'll figure out what I want to do for ch.13 soon.

Woohoo! I've made it through one year! Only three more to go! … This is gonna be long I guess Maybe I'll make time pass a bit quicker…

**CHAPTER TWELVE: Every Time**

"I don't remember." I tremble, filled with rage. He always asks me. Every time. What did Yukio tell me? Why can't I remember? What if it's important? I don't know. I don't care. I'm not really alive; I haven't been since I died. It doesn't matter. He sits by my bed every night now and questions me. Others come, but never Tsunade. Not anymore. It doesn't matter. I remember what happened later, and later is much more important.

My next memory: it was night. Shadows suffocated me and blinded my eyes, making even the white snow black, but _he_ could see. He could always see. His red eyes stared into my heart and tore it to bits, tiny shreds of what once was life.

"Again." His voice remained calm, steady, but I could tell he was impatient.

I raised my arm into the cold and stared into Jiro's eyes. His eyes. Focus. They glowed red as mine, red as Yukio's, as he resisted. _Burn._ I seared the word into his mind, stained the backs of his eyelids with it. "Burn" replaced everything; he knew nothing else. Screams echoed through the damp cave as he fell to the floor, writhing with pain from a fire that didn't exist.

"Good." Yukio's voice broke the spell, waking both of us. "I knew you'd get it eventually. Mina!" A voluptuous brunette stepped forward from the shadows, cloaked in violet shades of death. "Help Jiro back home. The rest of you go too."

We watched them leave, and Yukio led me away from the cave once they were out of sight. "Now, for your real test." I stopped when he spoke.

"What?"

"Ah, yes. You thought Jiro was your test, no doubt. Everyone else did too." He grabbed my hand; I didn't know why. "It's easy enough to ensnare a slave. Now, I want you to make me see something. Just an image, nothing else. Anything you choose." He stepped back, smiling.

Closing my eyes to concentrate, I imagined a wolf standing in the snow. Once I fixed it in my mind, I opened my eyes and stared into his. I concentrated on the wolf and on sharing the image with him. Something held me back. I push harder and it lashed out, cracking like a whip. I fell to the ground gasping, but the snow cushioned me.

"What the hell…?"

"That's what happens when your target has… defenses against your attack." He helped me up, grinning broadly. "You got far for your first try against me. That wasn't really the point though. _You_ need defenses like that."

"Why? And why doesn't anyone else?" I looked away into the night. His grin always bothered me, even when I had no reason for it.

"I need a replacement. For Jiro."

I faced him again, sharply. "But he's—"

"Going to betray me. You're the only one who knows he can, which makes _you_ the obvious choice." He put his arm around my shoulders and led me towards a tree. "Now, it's easier if you sit. There." He pointed to its trunk. "You need to imagine yourself in a sort of enclosure; it's different for everyone. Mine's a lightning bubble. My teacher's was a giant fortress. Pick what you like."

Eyes closed again, I imagined myself infolded in wings made of daggers.

"Underneath too."

I adjusted my image and felt Yukio send in a testing command. The wings shattered and fell in shards like glass as singing and dancing squirrels invaded my mind.

"Again."

Dagger wings. Invasion. Wart-nosed Sakura riding a broomstick.

"Again."

Piercing wings surrounded me. Invasion. Yukio and I… I'll not say what.

"Better. Again."

Wings built of blades entombed my mind. Invasion. Puppies in Christmas hats.

"Why can't you think of better images?" I realized, suddenly, that I was panting, covered in sweat despite the cold, and completely numb.

"Better? I love puppies!" He grinned innocently. "They're adorable."

"Yeah…"

"I guess that's enough for tonight." He lifted me in his arms like a child and began walking home.

My limbs wouldn't move when I tried to punch or kick him, so I settled with "Let me down." It sounded weak though, and I drifted into sleep.

I felt them watching me after that, all of them, Jiro especially. Not a one knew why I was "so special," and not a one ignored it. It made me realize just how many childer Yukio had, having them all stare at me and stop talking when I got close.

The library became Jiro's hideout, his base. He whispered to others over books, others who he'd never speak to before. The lowest and the most mistreated suddenly became Jiro's greatest allies. I watched him, knew almost every one of his faction. Telling Yukio never occurred to me. I wouldn't have told him even if it had. But then, I didn't need to.

"I should have known I couldn't tame you so easily, Sasuke." Yukio flung himself onto his bed and motioned to the chair. "Sit already." I shoved a large, grumpy cat out of his chair and sat. It stalked from the room with its tail in the air. "You could have told me you know; spying's useless if you keep it to yourself."

"What?" I turned away from his calendar (I had been studying a strange pink… blob with a face, but I never found out what it was).

"Jiro." He motioned abstractly in the air. "Jiro and his little friends." He laughed. "They're planning something. Though I'm not sure if I drove him to it or not."

"And it's funny?" I rested my elbows on my knees and laced my fingers together.

"Of course it is." He sat up suddenly, grinning broadly.

I raised my eyebrow and tried not to look confused. "Why?"

"You're cute." He lay back down, sighing. "Because they think they can win something."

"Can't they?"

"No. Not a thing."

"Freedom?"

"Nothing."

"Death?"

"Not even that." His eyes glowed red.

I stood to leave, but he caught my elbow. "What now?"

"Hey, just 'cause I promoted you doesn't mean you can get sassy." He dug around under his bed and pulled out a beat-up cardboard box. "Open it."

I sighed but pulled the box open. "Clothes?"

"I know they're a grandma gift, but you've been complaining about my color scheme." He smiled. "Try them on!"

"Later. Why a gift?"

"Well, it's your birthday."

I remembered the snow outside, barricading us into his house. "No. It's December."

"Exactly." He grinned. "You're birthday is different now. And you're a year old. Odd, it seems like longer…" He faked a vacant nostalgic expression.

"What's this?" I threw a pink sweater at his face.

"My favorite! Wear it for Christmas." He tossed it back to me.

"You _think_ you're funny."

"Oh, I know it. I'm not kidding though." He jumped to his feet and hugged me. "Don't forget to buy me a present!" Then he shoved me through the door with the box and pink sweater in my arms.

There was nothing else to do, so I shoved the sweater to the bottom of the box and stomped to my room.

Mina stood outside my door, waiting for me. "Nice box." She smiled knowingly.

"Fuck off." I tried to slam the door in her face, but she caught it and glided into the room. I threw the box in a corner as she made herself comfortable on my bed. "What do you want?"

She rolled her eyes. "What is it when men? You never go for small talk. Even Yukio skips it more often than not." I tried to look as impatient as possible. "Fine. Jiro wants to know why you're the new favorite."

"You his messenger now?" I dropped myself onto the bed because I didn't have any chairs.

"No. I'm his friend. You may have heard of something like that."

"No. I don't think I have."

Rolling her eyes again, she threw up her arms. "Hopeless." She tapped her fingers on my nightstand. "Are you going to tell me?"

"He had to show off when I was listening."

"So you know about that then."

"Yes."

"Do you know how…?"

"No." I watched her from the corner of my eye. "Do you?"

Instead of answering she stood and walked over to where I sat. "And why do you care?" She leaned down, fully aware that I could see down her purple dress.

"Three guesses."

"I thought so." She sat down beside me. "If he leaves, are you joining him?"

"No."

Mina's blue eyes widened in surprise. "Why not? If you want out so bad…"

"He'll fail."

"How can you be—"

"He's stupid." Then as an afterthought, I added "And reckless."

"I won't go either." I think she expected me to care. She leaned over and pressed her lips to mine before I could register enough to stop her.

Kakashi likes to interrupt me here, after Mina kisses me and before I kick her out. "This is your next memory? The last was in _October_."

"Do you remember every month, every moment of your life?" I like to sigh here, but he's used to it, so I lie down as if to sleep instead.

"No, but what if it's important?"

"It's not."

"How do you know?"

"I'd remember."

We do this every time.


	13. Christmas

Yay! Next Chapter! I know it takes me too long...

WARNING: It does get... kind of graphically disgusting in this chapter for a little while . ; I hope I did okay writing something like that... Anyway, anyone who is squemish will be fine until after this tiny paragraph:

"I opened my eyes, slowly. I didn't want to. I swore right then I'd do whatever he wanted if he let me out now; if he didn't make me look. He didn't care."

After that, just skip to the end and I'll make a short, non-graphic summary, so you don't miss what happens.

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Christmas**

December's snow barricaded us into Yukio's house, but it locked others out. Many of Yukio's childer, who he had come to call my siblings, were locked out, barricaded elsewhere by the snow. He told me they were strong and we'd see them again when the snow melted. Christmas Eve proved him wrong, on one account at least.

I knew one of the isolated childer because Yukio made me watch him sire the boy. His pale green hair tumbled down over his unnecessarily pretty face and enormous blue eyes. He could barely hunt and knew nothing of his new abilities, but Yukio had sent him out to "play" shortly before the snow started. He didn't come back.

Yukio sat me on his crimson bed and locked the door. Then he gritted his teeth and sat beside me. His grey eyes looked cloudy and strained. I had never seen him like this before, not once.

"He's dead." His voice surprised me; it was so small. "Hiro-kun is dead." I only found out later that Hiro was the pretty green-haired boy. Later, Yukio told me it was violent painful, but he never revealed how he knew. Now Yukio just put his head on my shoulder and sat in his dusky room. If I had been anyone else, I think he might have cried. He never even mentioned the pink sweater I had already burned.

The next morning, everything returned to normal. Shouting more enthusiastically than coherently, Yukio pulled me forcibly out of bed. I slammed into the hardwood floor, but he didn't seem to notice. I stumbled to my feet as he dragged me down the hall. He didn't even let me grab a robe, so I reached the oversized living room in nothing but a pair of indigo boxers. A huge Christmas tree stood right in front of the doorway, blocking it as much as the snow outside. Baubles from balls to angels to toothbrushes covered the tree. With a wave of his hand, he signaled someone to plug the tree in, and everything lit and up, played music, and cried out in "Christmas cheer."

I glared at him, yawned, and said I was going back to bed. Yukio just laughed and pulled me closer to the tree. "Look!" He pointed. "We've got presents!" He grinned from ear to ear, like a little kid on a real Christmas morning with his parents. But Yukio put every gift under that tree, and no one left one for him. I don't think anyone cared.

Excitedly, Yukio ushered everyone to the tree and handed out the presents himself. Mine read "To: Sasuke. From: Santa." When I opened it, a pendant and matching earring tumbled out of a slightly worn cardboard box. They both seemed circular at first, but they actually had twenty-four short edges and rounded corners where they met. Intricate carvings circled and crossed each other on its front, but the back was cool, smooth silver.

"Put it on!" Yukio grinned excitedly as he hovered over my shoulder.

I clasped the pendant's chain around my neck. "My ear isn't pierced," I grumbled, holding up the silver earring.

"No problem." He took it from me but didn't turn away.

The floor slammed against my back before I realized Yukio had moved. I couldn't get up and I couldn't get him off. One of his hands pressed against my face to hold my head still. The other rammed the earring through my left ear lobe. I screamed and thrashed until I finally shoved him off of me. Blood leaked over my hand when I pressed it against my tender ear.

"What the fu—"

"It's pierced now." He held out his hand to help me up. Instead of accepting it, I shoved his hand away and stormed, bleeding, to my room.

That was Christmas.

I left the earring in because I knew he'd just shove it back in if I took it out. Stubbornness made me shove the pendant under my bed though. My ear hurt. I refused to hide from Yukio, so I remained in my room and glared at the window that wouldn't open any more. I decided to hate Christmas then.

He didn't come until long after noon.

"I guess you're not stupid, Sasuke." I knew he meant the earring. "But," he grinned, "You have to wear the pendant too."

I scowled and lay down, trying to ignore him. He knelt down and reached under the bed. When he stood again, the pendant dangled from his hand. "Why do you care?" I grumbled, and I knew it was childish.

"Because it's a gift." He grabbed my hair and yanked me forward. The pendant already hung around my neck by the time I shouted. "Now. I have something to show you because I know how strong you are, and I know you want to get out." I didn't deny it. "Jiro tried. Yesterday." Why would he bother when he couldn't leave the house? And when? Yesterday was boring and monotonous; nothing happened. "Come on." Yukio grabbed me by the collar and dragged me from my room.

He led me to a door we all knew. It loomed at the end of a largely unused hallway, infected with spiders and webs. The black paint cracked and the lock looked rusted in place. It smelled of death. No one could open that door; every one of Yukio's childer had tried at some point, but none of us could open it.

His eyes glowed red to light the hall. He waved his hand. The door opened. It creaked, burdened with time, pain, and rust. When it stood open, a stale, unnatural stench wafted out alongside cobwebs and flies.

"Come." The word echoed as Yukio led me down the dirty stairs.

I screamed and turned to run out of the basement, but Yukio caught me. "Let me go!" I hated the panic in my voice, but I couldn't... I couldn't stand to look at the shapes in the cells.

He turned me almost effortlessly and I realized how much stronger than me he was. I was strong; he was monstrous. "Look at them, Sasuke. They're the ones who opposed me, the ones who betrayed me, the ones who hurt me. Do you want to join them, Sasuke?" He waited a moment. "Well?"

"No." I choked, I sobbed, I closed my eyes.

"I said look at them!" Yukio roared. He wasn't smiling.

I opened my eyes, slowly. I didn't want to. I swore right then I'd do whatever he wanted if he let me out now; if he didn't make me look. He didn't care.

They were on the floor, if it could be called that. Great chunks of cement were missing entirely and they lay on dirt. Cracks littered what little cement remained. I saw a cockroach scurry out of a crack. It passed by one of their mouths and he snapped at it; he ate it. I looked away.

Blood coated the walls, layer on layer of stinking, rotting, dried blood. It was caked on the bars of their cells and the ceiling too. Rust joined the blood on the metal bars. It immobilized the hinges of the doors, which all stood open. They wouldn't be able to escape anyway. Only the ceiling looked sturdy.

Yukio grabbed me by the chin and pointed my eyes at the nearest one. He was a man once, a vampire. I'll bet he was strong. So much grime coated his skin that I can't tell what color it was originally. He was still chewing the cockroach. My mouth was dry, but Yukio held me there.

His shoulders ended in stumps, purple and yellow from an infection no one will ever heal. Puss oozed from them and dripped to the floor. One shoulder rested on another prisoner's head, and the puss stuck to her bloody, hairless scalp. I could only see the first one well though. His legs ended in the same way as his arms, infected so they'd never properly heal.

I didn't want to look at his face. I didn't... I didn't think I could. I could feel the bile rising in my throat alongside a scream. It made me feel week, but I didn't care.

"Look."

His eyes were holes, covered and surrounded my scratches where someone had clawed them out. Around the holes everything had bloated and turned red. His lips cracked and bled. When he opened his mouth, I saw his tongue had been cut out carelessly. It looked uneven, like someone hacked at it with a butter knife until it finally came loose.

All he had left were his nose and ears.

I screamed and finally wrenched myself from Yukios grasp. I fell to my knees and puked until there was nothing left in me to lose. "Please..." I wanted to scream at myself as much as at Yukio. I should not have been so disgustingly _weak_. "Just let me—"

"You can't leave yet, Sasuke. There's more."

I shivered at the thought of more, of something worse. He lifted me in his arms and carried me to the end of the rows of open cells. The he set me down and I looked up. Jiro stood in front of me, struggling against the shackles that held him to the wall and floor. He glared, more at me than at Yukio.

"I was thinking one day: what would be the worst, the absolute _worst_, most painful thing I could do to anyone? I came up with this." He motioned to the basement around us. "I took care of most of them myself. I have found, however, that sometimes, it would hurt more if it came from someone else."

I realized what he wanted. "No!" I backed away, desperately. "I... I can't."

"The thing is, Sasuke. You can do anything I want you to."

I screamed and ran, but he still controlled me.

"Stop." I did. "Come over here." I walked towards him unsteadily.

"Don't." I begged and wished I could tear him in half. Rip his throat out and run, run until the sun burned my eyes out and my body fell because I couldn't move any more.

But he wouldn't let me.

"You'll do it, Sasuke. The tools are there. Start."

And I did.

**END CHAPTER**

So, the part some of you may have skipped has people Yukio has horribly tortured. Jiro's at the end of the hall and Yukio forces Sasuke to torture Jiro in the same way (using his say things and his childer do them ability). Sasuke's sickened and terrified by the whole thing and even begs Yukio to just let him out because _no one _should ever see something like that, much less do it.

Please review!


	14. Sick

I never realized that what I choose to read actually affects my writing. I just reread all of Narnia, and I didn't even get a single idea for this while doing so. I started reading Stephen King three days ago, and suddenly: this. Crazy.

Anyway, I'm sorry it took so long. I blame happy fauns and Jesus lions. That and myself for not trying, but I generally just wait 'till it comes to me. Not much happens in this chapter, but I still think it was necessary. Enjoy!

Oh, and I decided to change the rating because Chapter 13 was pretty graphic...

**Chapter Fourteen:****Sick**

I had never realized a vampire could be sick. Yukio told me not to be foolish, that everything has weaknesses and everything gets sick. Then he laughed and told me a vampire's diseases are purely psychological. "Walk it off," he said, "Get over it." Every time I tried, all I could feel was Jiro tearing apart beneath my burning and shaking hands. I should have killed him instead, killed both of them, but I couldn't. I told myself again and again, "I couldn't."

I couldn't stay sick forever.

I stayed inside, in the dark, in my room because I could. I shook and shook and ripped my sheets to shreds when I couldn't stand it anymore. Yukio refused to give me new ones because I'd ruin those too. He told me I was being childish, dwelling on something so meaningless. He told me to "Grow up." But I screamed and threw something—anything—at him until he left. I couldn't stand the sight of him, the sound of his voice, his smell, but most of all: I couldn't stand it when he touched me.

I knew now what those hands had touched, what they had created. I understood because I had done it too. I hated the feeling of it. I hated him, more than when he sired me, more than when he took me away, more than when he made me sire Kyo. I hated him.

I hated him more than I ever hated Itachi.

Yukio would walk over, just like he always did, and put his arm on my shoulders. Then he would say something about my getting better as I began to shake and something burned inside my chest. I could never stop it, the shaking. Yukio never understood that; he thought I had control. Eventually he just got angry. His grin slipped, and be began to scream and kick me. "You were supposed to be strong, Sasuke!" His voice sounded so strange, so panicked, I barely recognized it as his. "Not some emo kid who can't even leave his room!" He left, and I saw Mina's face outside, whiter than even a vampire's should be with blue eyes so wide they seemed about to fall out. Then he slammed the door. I wondered how many of the others heard him.

I cried then. Can't say why.

The next time the door opened, no one came in. No one closed it. No one passed by. He just left it there... because he knew I couldn't leave it alone. I guess he got sick of my being sick. I think it made him angry; it made him think I was weak.

I screamed incoherently and threw something through the door. I don't know what it was, only that it shattered against the other side of the hall. I panted and sweated and stared outside. I wanted the door to close. Then I turned over and faced the wall with my eyes closed, so I could pretend it didn't exist. I stayed like that a little while, curled up to face oblivion. Then I rolled over, stood up, and walked out the door.

I followed his scent and reached him in the dining room. If I could have seen myself in the mirrors, I'm sure I'd have looked like shit. He looked confused at first, but then he stood, tossed aside a mortal girl he'd been feasting on, and grinned. As he opened his mouth to greet me, I lunged and slammed him against the wall. His shirt shred more easily than my sheets had, and once it was off him, I plunged my hand into his chest. I held his heart in my fist, and he motioned awkwardly for everyone to stay back.

I felt so hot, like something was burning inside me and killing him would let it out. It would help me cool down, let me feel sane again. And maybe I could go back home again.

I stopped then. I thought I had given up on Konoha. I let his heart go and fell to the ground. I cried again and beat my head against the floor to make it all stop. It didn't help, so I wrenched at the floorboards out as punishment. All I felt was heat and rage.

"Why?" I screamed, taking Yukio by the throat and pressing him against the wall again. "You could have just let me die. Why sire me instead? This life is shit."

He grinned. With a hole in his chest and my hand around his throat, Yukio grinned. "Because you're strong."

The tables crashed and Yukio hit the wall on the other end of the room. I realized afterwards that I had thrown him.

I asked for a new set of sheets and returned to my room.

Sometimes, when I didn't feel so hot and weak that I couldn't stand, I would leave my room to find Yukio. Instead of attacking, I just watched him. I wanted to know. I wanted to understand. I couldn't though, however much I stared. I couldn't figure out why I didn't kill him. I'd had my chance; I'd wasted it. Why? Because he complimented me? I was past that by then. I couldn't remember the last time I ate or showered. I couldn't remember the last time I didn't feel this burning that drove me to destroying everything I could reach. I went through three more sets of sheets. The last ones he gave me were pink, and I tore those to shreds before he left the room. Cocky bastard.

Years ago I tried to kill Naruto but didn't, though part of me suspected that was just a dream. Something in me couldn't. It was different though. Naruto was my friend. Yukio was my sire. Essentially, he was my... father. Smudged images of a man named "Fugaku" flashed through my mind at the word, but the only one that came out clear was smothered in blood and had stopped breathing long ago. That didn't matter. I could kill my brother; I could kill my father.

I found Yukio again and grabbed him by the shoulders. My nails dug into his flesh, I held him so tight, but he didn't try to get away. I stared into his eyes, hoping something in them would tell me. All I saw was crazy. Something grey and unreadable except for a light in them that matched his grin. Except for crazy.

It made me wonder if that was what I had become: crazy. I felt like it, like I'd lost control. Like my mind had run away from me and kept taunting me with a tomato and a pair of lacy women's underwear. Stop. Wait. Underwear? I punched Yukio and shouted for him to keep out of my head. He grinned as I stormed back to my room.

When I reached it, I was burning and drenched in sweat. How could everyone else stand the heat? I turned on the cold water in my shower and sat inside it, fully clothed. It cooled me down and washed away the sweat, but it never stopped the burning. I realized it in the shower: I couldn't stay sick forever.

So I took off my clothes, grabbed the soap and cleaned myself. I put on something fresh—my other outfit smelled so horribly of B.O. and piss that I threw it out in the trash in Yukio's room—and went outside. The sun was bright and hot and there was grass on the ground where I remembered snow. I wondered how long I'd been sick for, and Yukio answered.

"Four months. It's April. Springtime and lovebirds, babies and sing-a-longs."

"You really are, aren't you?" I asked, calm for the first time in months. "Completely insane."

And for the first time, his grin scared me. "Yes, but who wouldn't want to be?"

"I tried it; didn't like it much."

He shrugged. "Try, try again, Sasuke. You'll get it eventually."

"I..." I wondered if I should speak, but realized he'd find out anyway. "I'm going to get away, maybe even kill you. And I'll go back. I never wanted to before, but I think I will. Eventually."

"You say that now. It's normal." He hugged me. "But it's good to have you back. You were so boring when you didn't speak to me." He smiled innocently, like a four-year-old with cotton candy. "I'm glad you're better!"

I brushed him off, not sure I _was_ "better." But he caught me by the wrist and wrenched it so the bone snapped and I faced him.

"I have something to tell you." He pressed his index finger to his lips and pulled me closer. "I want you to join my clan. It's special, not everyone can. I won't tell you the name until you prove yourself."

"What are you talking about?" I tried to pull my wrist free but only twisted the bone worse. "Wouldn't all of your childer be part of your clan?"

"No, silly!" He laughed. "They're my _family_. That's completely different."

"You're mad." But he didn't answer except by kissing my forehead and leaving me alone with a broken wrist.


	15. Dreams of my Sire

Yay! I really couldn't think of what to write next... Until suddenly I ate breakfast this morning, and thought of this. Isn't that weird? I haven't actually read this over yet because I have to go to work, so please forgive me any mistakes! And enjoy :)

**Chapter Fifteen: Dreams of my Sire**

I was asleep. Whenever I had to let my guard down by sleeping or showering or whatever else, I locked the door. It was a silly thing to do, really. Any one of the vampires around me could break the lock easily; many of them could even do it silently. But still, I locked my door because I didn't trust him. The longer I stayed with Yukio, the less I felt safe. I remember at first I thought he wouldn't hurt me because I was his childe—and somehow important to him. Well, I got over that, and I realized he _would_ hurt me _because_ I was his childe and somehow important to him. Things like that made it hard to sleep. They kept me up long into the morning, and sometimes towards the afternoon. But for now, I slept.

It wasn't time yet for my "nothing" dream, but I could feel it approaching. Once a month it came for me, stalking my mind even more intently than Yukio. My sire at least could forget about me because he had other toys. The nightmare though, it had nothing better to do, and it was always punctual.

Tonight though, I dreamed about Yukio. He would have been thrilled to hear that. It was more of a series of smaller dreams than one dream, but they all had Yukio in them, even the ones that weren't about him. Oh, yes, he would love to hear about my dreams.

I fell asleep slowly, with my back to the wall and my face to the door, blankets wrapped tight around me even though it was a warm day. The first thing I remember is the large fireplace in what he uses as a living room. A thick log sat in it, looking almost thoughtful as the red and yellow flames slowly blackened it. Chunks of charred wood started falling off, and sparks flew out at me. They died before reaching me, so I didn't move back. The flame was... well, it was pretty. I stared intently at their killing dance, despite the overwhelming heat they gave off. It burned my eyes and made my body sweat, but I could never bring myself to look away.

A hand landed softly on my shoulder and squeezed slightly. It was a comforting, reassuring pressure, not a painful one. Someone sat near me, to the right and somewhat behind. I could see enough to know he was there, but not who it was. He seemed to change, flashing different colors. Red, green, orange, black. Whoever he ended up as, he put his arms around my shoulders as if to comfort me. "It's okay." I voice I didn't quite recognize whispered into my ear. "I'll protect you." I relaxed.

He rested his head on my shoulder as I continued to stare into the flames.

We were standing then, hand in hand, at the mouth of a volcano. The heat surged up to us, but I had already forgotten the fireplace. This seemed right. I watched the lava, boiling over itself far below me, rising up as if to welcome us. I remembered vaguely that it was molten rock and would kill us, but it didn't seem to matter because _this was right_. I couldn't say why, but every part of me knew it was true.

"One." My companion said, slowly swinging our clasped hands. "Two." I held my breath and shut my eyes tightly as another wave of heat rushed at me. "Three." We jumped.

The water was cool, but not so much as to shock me. Somehow I felt I had been hot before, but that didn't seem to matter now. I climbed out, onto the rocky outcropping beside the pool. Beyond it, I could see trees swaying gently in the breeze. A robin landed on a branch and began to sing as a sparrow bathed in a pool formed by the rocks along the lake. The sun was warm and light, but not so bright that I couldn't look at it.

I turned back to the pool and dived in.

When I came up, he splashed my playfully, filling my eyes with water. I splashed back, blinking frantically to regain my sight. Night fell while I was blinded. The water felt thick, but I was too busy searching for my companion, my friend. I found him finally, lying on the rocks. He wasn't breathing. I rushed over, but the hard I swam the less I could move against the water. I finally stopped, exactly where I had begun and looked down. I knew before my eyes reached it though. I could smell it, taste it where I had splashed it into my mouth. It wasn't water: it was blood.

The hunger seized me, as thought it had just been waiting for this moment. I cupped my hands and brought more and more into my mouth, but it never filled me. Then he laughed. My eyes wanted to stay fixed on the blood, but I wrenched them away to look at them. Yukio dived smoothly into the red lake and swam over to me effortlessly. "That won't do you any good, Sasuke," he said tenderly, and his smile encouraged me. He would help. "You have to take it from the source." He held up a body, and I saw countless others surrounding us.

Grinning, I grabbed the nearest corpse but froze when I saw her face. "Why, Sasuke?" She asked, her dark eyes growing wide. "Why did you let me die? Why are you killing me?" I threw her away, but she swan back as effortlessly as Yukio. I tried to swim away, but the thick blood and swollen corpses held me in place. I turned back.

Her hair looked right in blood, right like the volcano felt. But her face, that pleading... something was wrong. When she reached me, I broke her neck. Then she was right again. I remembered her expression when she died; this was it, not the other. "I love you, Mother" I spoke softly and drank from her neck.

"Good boy." Yukio said, putting his arm across my shoulders and hugging me. He began walking, but my foot caught on something. Turning my eyes, I found Jiro covered in crusting blood and hungry insects. He reached tonguelessly with his mouth to reach even the smallest bug to eat. Something oozed from the stumps where he once had limbs, and I knew it was the death he would never have.

I screamed.

Yukio lifted me in one hand and slammed my back against the wall. "Is that all you are, Sasuke?" And I remembered his words, I remembered my screams and my sobs mingling with Jiro's as I tore hid body to pieces. "Are you so weak?" I couldn't answer any more than I had the first time.

His free hand motioned wildly behind him. "See that man?" I knew which one. He lay alone while the others were packed together. "His name is Jack. He was my first." He grinned at this, but it didn't scare me. It only made me want to cry. "He was my sire." He threw me to the ground and slammed his foot into my chest. "Now see this man?" He swung his arm to point at Jiro, but this time his hand was steady. "He _knew_ about this; he knew what would happen to him. He'd even done it once, just like you have now. He's nobody. He goes in the other cell." With this, he lifted Jiro and threw him casually atop the others. "Who do you want to be, Sasuke? Do you want to be Jack? Do you want to be Jiro? Or would you rather be me? Those are your only options, Sasuke. Choose well."

He threw me in after Jiro, and I screamed again. Frantically, I made my way out of the cell, tripping over corpses that still wheezed and pleaded with their dark eyes. Outside, Yukio was waiting for me. Immediately he pulled me into a tight hug, mindless of the gore that covered my still shaking body. He smiled happily and carried me to my room, where I woke.

I twisted my body sharply, grabbing the knife beneath my pillow as I fell to the floor. Once I landed, I took a ready position and found what had woken me. Two men and a woman crept stealthily into my room. The lock was broken on my door.

I attacked before they realized I had moved from my bed. Their eyes were still adjusting to the shadows in my room, and I severed the first man's head before they could react. He turned to dust. The woman lunged. I moved away, but her claws caught my right arm. They left three gashes bleeding sluggishly. I rolled and caught the man with my leg, tripping him. As he got up, I sliced through the woman's arm. Her hand fell at the man's feet as he stabbed a knife through my chest.

I jumped away, taking his blade with me. They both followed. I leapt to my bed, and threw the tangled blankets at them. The man's legs got caught, but the woman reached me. She brought her claws to me neck, and I brought my kunai to her stomach. I stabbed and pulled up all the way to her neck. When she fell back, I grabbed her long hair and held her up to cut off her head.

The last attacker fled. I followed. He raced ahead of me through the dim halls of Yukio's home. Light peeked through cracks where he'd had the windows boarded up long before I arrived. The tiny rays of light weren't even enough to sting unless they landed in my eyes. He turned into a room. I followed and found a flight of stairs leading down. Half way down, I saw him, still running. So I chased.

At the bottom I found him standing beside Mina and Yukio. "I hope you had sweet dreams this morning, Sasuke," Yukio said, the familiar grin plastered to his face. "Because you won't for a long while now."


	16. Get Out

So... yeah. There's really not much I can say about this chapter except that it was a lot of fun to write. :)

I hope its not too much... especially after the dream sequence in the last chapter. Just let me know, okay?

**Chapter Sixteen: Get Out**

All I had to do was get out. Yukio tied me up, crammed me in a large black coffin and told me that: "Don't worry Sasuke. This test is easy: just climb out of the coffin. Of course, a lot of them never do." He motioned to the other closed coffins that filled the second basement of his manor and grinned. I tried to punch him, but he slammed the coffin lid down on my fist and hammered in the nails. I wondered briefly if I should have felt honored he did it himself.

I beat the lid of the coffin, but it didn't give even a little. It held firm. No splinters, no slight bending, nothing. I screamed at him to let me out, but I heard him laugh loudly and walk away. Far away, the basement door closed.

It was dark inside my coffin. I'd seen from outside that it was wood, but it didn't feel that way in here. Inside it was more like metal. The sides and bottom proved as immovable as the top, but I couldn't just give up. I couldn't.

I screamed again and knew I was begging. The bitter poison stung like salt, but I screamed his name again and again. I would have liked to fool myself, to say I could take being trapped in a box. A few months ago I would even have made him wait for me to beg, out of stubbornness alone. But it felt too much like being sick. And it felt too much like the basement with Jiro, like crawling through those not-corpses. Screaming his name, I begged Yukio to let me out. But he couldn't even hear me; he'd already gone.

The bottom fell out. It happened suddenly enough to catch me mid-scream. It fell a long way though, much farther than the floor. When I looked around, I realized I wasn't in the basement. Or, at least not out of the coffin. Vaguely I wondered what sort of hallucinogen he'd given me, but even that thought faded quickly.

There were mountains, huge purple things with smiling faces and white caps of snowy hair. There were lakes too, frothy red lakes filled with delectable bodies, still just alive enough to be warm. Trees danced circles around each other, filled with the merriment of Yukio's "perfect" world. I saw cute little forest creatures scurry about on the ground beneath my magic carpet (I think it used to be a box of some sort). A squirrel tackled a lion, instantly killing it and tearing the larger animal to shreds. For some reason, that was the funniest thing I'd ever seen. I laughed, and realized afterwards how rarely I do it. That made me laugh more.

Still laughing, I rolled off of my magic carpet and floated lightly to the ground. A strange little critter ran up and gave me a hug. It was black, furry, and looked rather like a ferret (whatever that was). It stabbed me with a ridiculously tiny kunai and ran away screaming "Kill me, Sasuke! I hurt you, so kill me!" I shrugged and followed it, chuckling slightly to myself.

I quickly became tired because it was day. I should have been sleeping anyway. So I lay down beneath a tree to sleep. There were no dreams, but maybe that's because there wasn't really any sleep. When I woke, I realized I had been tied up. A little boy had a sharpie (a what?) and was drawing on my face. When he finished, he held up a mirror to reveal work even a Jigglypuff would be proud of (I don't even know...). The tree bent down and washed my face, knocking the boy away in the process. It seemed to be angry at him.

A tall man in a hood came before me then. He pointed ominously and spoke in a voice that seemed to echo throughout the whole world. "Pursue not another's death, Sasuke. It will only end in your own." The boy told him to shove it and tackled the mysterious prophet.

And old man hobbled towards me with a snake on his shoulders. It whispered something in his ear and he said, "Oh, yes, yes, that's it. Come on boy, it went that way." He pointed past a lake and through a range of dancing mountains.

"What did?" I asked, distracted by the still wrestling boy and man.

"Why the red-eyed rodent of death, of course, you silly boy!" Hissed the snake. "Here, I'll help you find it." The snake left the old man's shoulders and climbed onto mine.

"OH MY GOD!" A shrill voice screamed, and I realized it was the tree. It pranced around, holding up its bark like a woman would her skirt. "It's a _snake_! Kill it!"

I looked around, but couldn't find any snake. I was just about to ask the tree what it meant when the sharpie boy grabbed something from my shoulders and ate it. I shrugged and went back to sleep.

This time, I woke on my own. The sky was dark, and the stars twinkled invitingly at me. Just as I was about to leap up and join them for a quick dance—and maybe a drink or two—something grabbed me. When I looked it was a hand, but it was attached to a vine covered in other hands. I could only guess that they must be leaves. I kicked the hand away and turned to leave, but two more grabbed me. The one I had kicked fell off, and the vine began to scream and bleed. The hole where the hand had once been became a mouth, wide open its shrill cry.

Another vine fell slowly from the tree (which I noticed had changed color from pink to indigo). It wrapped itself around me, using its hands to hold on. They were dirty hands, caked in blood and bugs. A spider made its way across my leg from one hand-leaf to another. It took off its hat and bowed politely when it noticed me looking.

Very suddenly, I realized I must be going insane.

This seemed oh so very funny, and I laughed. Wondering why I hadn't ever laughed much before (and also wondering what a "before" was), I plucked the vines from my shoulders and moved on.

The stars turned out to be quite rude and kicked me out of their party the moment they realized I wasn't wearing shoes. I landed hard on a rocky trail. The sharp stones lashed at me, slowly tearing my skin to shreds as I fell down the mountain. The mountain shook with laugher, making my fall even more rough and painful. I made sure the kick the mountain at one point, but it only hurt my foot.

At the bottom I found three paths before me.

I carefully pulled my skin back on as I studied these paths. The first one was very violent, and really looked like a lot of fun. But it ended really quickly with a sudden drop and a painful death. I had become fond of my skin after having lost it once, so I looked down the next. I twisted a little, but if I squinted through the darkness, I could just make out the end. A king sat upon his glittering throne, but he had no head and the crown lay in his lap. I realized I liked my head too, and checked the last path. I led into a strange red mist.

The mist kept making shapes, and I decided they were either a game—like spotting animals in the clouds—or signs of what lay along this path. Either way, I settled down to watch them for a bit, laughing as a small furry thing ran up to join me. There was quite a lot of killing in the mist-shapes, but that never bothered me. I saw teeth, and a spider, and a great big leaf, and a castle, and a dragon, and a serial rapist, and even one that looked like a puppy.

I guess my furry friend got bored because he pulled out the same tiny kunai from before and stabbed me. His betrayal really hurt me, so I grabbed him and broke his neck. Then I stood and walked down the misted path. It told me things as I walked, but I couldn't quite make them out. Some of them were really funny though. At least I think they were since I kept laughing.

I fell into a hole while I walked, and when I landed I was on my back, staring at the ceiling of the basement. I climbed out, still laughing at Yukio's great joke. Just get out of the coffin, right. I staggered up the stairs and down the hall, to Yukio's room I go.

Oh, sure, just get out.


	17. Brothers and Sisters

**Chapter Seventeen: Brothers and Sisters**

"Oh, yes," were Yukio's first words. "He definitely got out all on his own."

Mina only nodded silently, her eyes wide and cautious.

I laughed and spit on him. "What the fu—"

"Now, now, Sasuke," he interrupted, waggling his finger and grinning like a moron, "You know I don't like it when you swear." He absently wiped my spit from his face and rubbed it onto his pants.

"Go to hell." I scowled.

Yukio shook his head slowly. "Did you enjoy the coffin? A work a genius, if I do say so myself. It took a lot of really, really hard work to get it right. So, did you like it, Sasuke? Huh?"

"Fuck you."

"Now you're just lashing out Sasuke. Very mature." He motioned briefly with his hand and Mina scurried from the room. "I know you're still somewhat disoriented—"

I cut him off with a laugh.

"But," he continued, glaring at me, "That's really no excuse for your behavior. I remember when Mina came out of her coffin, she was just as calm as she's been every day since I found and sired her." He tapped his lips thoughtfully. "Then again, Jiro tried to kill everyone he came in contact with for a month."

"What, exactly, was the point of that?" I asked, holding back another laugh, though I couldn't say what it was at.

"Many things, you silly goose! First, it's a test. You have to prove your worth before you join my secret clan. It's also a form of self-realization. Many have told me I'm not as subtle with the imagery as I think I am,"

"I'll say."

"But they get the point at least." He shot me a petulant little glare and continued. "Third, it exercises my control over you. Can't have you forgetting that, my little Sasuke." He grinned broadly, and I laughed.

He seemed surprised at that, but I guess I never really laughed much before. It was hard to remember, sort of fuzzy. My clearest memories were in that coffin, but I could feel everything else slowly coming into focus.

"Of course I laughed, Yukio." I told him, responding to the surprise on his face. "You've controlled my every decision since we met, and you know that better than I do."

I'd never thought of that before saying it, but it was true. Even the decisions I thought were mine, he had manipulated out of me. He attacked Naruto to make me let down my guard so he could attack me (I wondered briefly when I had figured that, but moved on without an answer). He wanted me to go home, so I would eventually hurt someone and lose my village's trust. He outright forced me to join him. He made me sire a teenage boy and then leave him behind. He manipulated me into killing Itachi so I could let go of the Uchiha clan. In the same act, he led me to drink of Chiyo and accept my nature as a vampire. He led me into the basement, knowing I couldn't handle it, and knowing that I couldn't kill him for it either. He planned that I'd want to return home. Then, he shoved me in a coffin, and as soon as I woke, I scrambled to his room.

I laughed again, doubling myself over. Oh, yes, I had lost control of my own life for over a year. And I hadn't even noticed. Oh, I had known he was watching, monitoring my every move, but I never would have guessed he had anticipated them, even created them. Yukio made me look a fool so easily. It was the greatest joke of my life, even better than Itachi's (Yes, yes, kill my brother; why did he want so badly for me to avenge the clan he killed anyway?).

Yukio grinned. I suspected my hysteria was part of his plan as well, but I simply couldn't stop. I was weak, pathetic, short-sighted, oblivious, and so like putty in his hands. I deserved whatever he had planned, if simply because I could not see it, even now, after finally grasping the control he held over me. I called him a bastard and sat down before my laughter made me fall.

"Well I must say, I'm not disappointed with this outcome. You've always lacked a sense of humor." He grinned, and I couldn't bring myself to hit him. Not yet anyway.

"Tell me then," I said, finally over the fit of laughter. "What the fuck was the point in that? And don't tell me it's because dancing trees are pretty."

"Well," he pointed as Mina reentered the room, followed by other vampires. "They are, you know, very pretty. But the point is that I gave you three choices: end up like my sire Jack, end up like my childe Jiro, or end up like me. In your crazy little coffin dream, you chose me."

I thought he'd cheated. "Well the other paths both led to pretty obvious dying sort of ends."

"Exactly! Because if you chose either of those," and here his grin flashed widely, "I'd kill you."

"Thanks a lot, asshole." I looked over at the vampires who had followed Mina into the room. I vaguely recognized them as some of Yukio's strongest childer, but I didn't know more than that.

"You're very welcome, you ungrateful brat. Anyway! We're all together now. This, Sasuke, is my clan." He spread his arms to include everyone in the room. "I call it 'Lucky.' Because I feel like it, so don't ask."

"Wouldn't want the answer anyway. Too crazy." I leaned against the wall and studied them. They all seemed a bit stiff, and I wondered if there was more to the "initiation" that taking a crack-out nap in a coffin. Knowing Yukio, definitely.

He stood thoughtfully for a moment before shrugging. "You're probably right. No matter. Last week it was 'Hamtastic' anyway. Don't worry, I'll always tell you when the name changes!"

I stared at him, completely at a loss for words.

"You are still surprisingly boring, Sasuke. We'll have to work on that." The he motioned to one of the vampires, and he stepped forward. "You know, Sasuke, that blood is power and life—especially to us because we have a greater ability to harness it." He paused until I nodded. "It's not just the blood of the living that gives us strength. We can also draw from each other."

His childer produced a dagger and a goblet from within his coat. Yukio cut the younger vampires wrist and blood poured into the waiting goblet. The wound healed almost as soon as it was made though, so very little blood escaped.

Normally, blood smelled… good. The scent was appetizing. It made me want to drink. This smelled dusty, old, and more than a little putrid. I shied away from it.

"Oh calm down. It hardly hurts." Yukio scolded as he moved from vampire to vampire, collecting a small amount of blood from each. Finally, he came to me.

"Tell me, Sasuke. Do you want to go home?"

"Yes."

"Why? Because you expect them to welcome you with open arms?"

"I'm not that naïve, Yukio. They may not have driven me out yet when you came, but they would have eventually, and now they won't likely take me back. No, I don't want to go home for sentimental crap. I want to hurt them." I had lied to Yukio before. I wasn't now.

He nodded and took my wrist. Like he said, the thin slice hardly hurt at all. And it healed in seconds. Still, I noticed he didn't put his own blood in with the others.

"Now Sasuke," he said softly, with an eerily calm expression, "drink."

He held the noxious goblet to my lips, and I drank. It tasted like it smelled, and it burned going down. But once I drank, I became… aware of the other vampires. It was a sense not like the usual five. It was closer to sensing someone's chakra. Only I also had a vague sense of their emotions on top of their locations and states of health.

I only noticed the sense was dim when one of them suddenly flared. I recognized it as Mina. She had just drunk from the same goblet. This extra sense obviously had something to do with sharing each others' blood.

She cocked her head at me and approached, leaning over in her typical, cleavage-revealing way. "That's not how I expected you to feel, Sasuke. I thought… maybe something more violent. You've always seemed so dark and mysterious. Now I know you're just confused. And maybe gay since you feel absolutely nothing after staring down the front of my dress."

"Not gay, Mina. I just like my women classy."

She rolled her eyes and wandered off. I sensed the others dispersing as well, but I didn't bother to look at them.

"Eventually, you'll get to know them all." Yukio said and plopped to the ground beside me. "For now it's enough that you know they're your brothers and sisters, even more than most of my childer are."

"You know, Yukio, you've got too damn many kids." Everyone I saw any more was either his childe, or dinner. And speaking of dinner, I was starving.

"Well, there's a high mortality rate, so I try to keep a few spares around." He chuckled softly. I felt no urge to join him.

I stood and brushed myself off. When he asked where I was going, I just answered, "Hunting."


End file.
